


Disregarded

by NHMoonshadow



Series: The Wayward Ones [1]
Category: Transformers (Bay Movies), Transformers Generation One
Genre: Betrayal, Blood and Gore, Character Cameos from another Fandom, Child Abuse, Family, Fire Forged Friendships, G1/2007 Movie Mash-Up, Gen, Graphic Violence, Murder, Off-Screen Suicide, Physical and Mental Abuse, Protectiveness, Redemption, Revenge of the Fallen never happened
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-14
Updated: 2014-01-16
Packaged: 2018-01-04 14:34:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 30
Words: 59,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1082144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NHMoonshadow/pseuds/NHMoonshadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two very different souls cross paths due to an awful set of circumstances. A young runaway braving the streets alone, and a deserter who's only goal is to survive to see the next day. But scars that run deep are not easily forgotten, and strength and loyalty can be found in the most unlikely places.   (Barricade centric. Post first Bay-verse movie with some G1 and personal head-canon mixed in)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have been working on this story off and on since early 2008 and until now have only posted on DA and FF.net. In celebration of being so close to finishing I've been polishing and editing the earlier chapters to share with you lovely people over here. The same day that the Epilogue goes up so will the first chapter of the sequel. I have become very proud of the world I've built over time and hope you enjoy reading it half as much as I've enjoyed writing it.

_She watched her father in curiosity as he worked on his old chevy. The faded blue truck had been theirs as long as she could remember and he was always doing something to it. She loved to watch him, utterly fascinated by it. Her father was never a large man by any means, his limbs thinly chorded and looked completely unsuited for what he used them for. He was always so focused and quiet when he worked, with only the occasional swear and the sharp clang of metal giving any indication he was even in the garage._

_"Whatcha doing?"_

_Her father looked over his shoulder and grinned, hair wild and stubbled face smeared with grease and sweat. "Oh, hey there Princess. One sec-"_

_He pulled himself out from under the hood and hopped into the cab where the keys already sat in the ignition. He gestured his daughter over excitedly, scooping her up to sit on his knee. "One, two, and-" He turned the engine over and closed his eyes contentedly at the initial roar, then the steady rumble as it idled. He smiled at her broadly. "Good as new."_

_She tilted her head. "Was it broken?"_

_"Nah," he swatted the air dismissively. "Just keepin' her in shape is all. Good ol' truck like this needs a little extra TLC. It's kinda like karma" He patted the steering wheel fondly. "Take care of your vehicle and later down the road it'll return the favor."_

_"But it's just a_ truck _Daddy."_

_"Sure is."_

_She stared at him for a long moment._

_"You’re weird."_

_He chuckled. "Your Mama says that too."_

 

 

The rain was coming down in unforgiving torrents, drenching the whole city in frigid cold water. Streetlights were almost lost in the sheets of rain, the light seemingly swallowed by the night itself. Weary feet splashed through icy puddles and slow, shallow breaths came out in steady puffs of thin mist. Cold and sopping wet, she trudged on, her eyes searching for _anything_ that could be used to escape the rain.

She berated herself for not heading to the shelter she had spotted that morning, but she had been afraid. Afraid that someone would notice how young she was under all the grime and start asking questions. Afraid that she would be found and taken back home.

A shiver swept through her that had nothing to do with the cold.

Regardless, it was too late to change her mind now. She had walked so long and so far today that now she was lost. She didn't even really know what part of the city she was in. She had only been here for a few days, so it wasn’t like she was familiar with the area to begin with. She noted several large buildings and a warehouse as she passed them, but the parking lots were all empty. Abandoned in the first big storm of the season. An industrial or business district perhaps.

It was all unfamiliar.

As she neared the very outskirts of the city she finally saw something promising.

It was a totaled car, trashed and long forgotten behind two condemned buildings. She trudged closer, slowly taking in the dark paint job, and the deep gouges that ran across the hood and along the side paneling. Beneath the damage the vague outline of a shield could be discerned along with a three digit number.

With a start she realized she had found a _cop car_.

_Doesn't matter_ , she thought to herself. It would still keep her out of the rain, and right now she would take anything she could get.

She tried the passenger door unsuccessfully then tried the driver's side. It too was locked, but the window had been busted out at some point. She fretted over broken glass for a moment when thunder cracked in the distance.

With a trembling heave, she pulled herself head first through the shattered window only to tumble ungracefully into the driver's seat. She just laid there for a moment, her leg twisted uncomfortably against the steering wheel and her shoulder jammed harshly against the stick shift. She righted herself and shifted over to the passenger seat where there was a tad more room and where stray raindrops couldn't reach her. She huddled against the door with her arms wrapped around herself, trying to warm up despite her soaked sweater.

Dark curls hung limply about her face, the seaweed-like strands steadily dripping water onto her thighs. She brought her knees up to her chest then buried her face into the torn fabric of her jeans. A deep exhale soon followed. Her eyes slowly lifted to stare blankly out into the night, one dark green and watchful, the other slightly milky and unfocused, with light scarring marring the tanned face.

A gift from a man she never wished to see again.

With the storm still raging around her, and dark thoughts lingering in her head, Jodi finally gave in to exhaustion.


	2. Chapter 2

Barricade was no longer capable of running, his prized speed now rendered completely useless. Every active system left in his body were constantly pinging errors and warnings at him, informing him of his impending shut down. With how many times he had repeated the overrides, he briefly wondered if his systems would be permanently damaged.

Now his energy had hit a critical low, and his injuries could no longer be ignored.

He had been on the move for months now. Never staying in one location longer than a few days, and even with those few respites he was constantly on high alert, paranoia keeping him from true recharge. He briefly wished Frenzy had survived the battle. While an irritating little fragger, the tiny bot had doubled as a fairly decent field medic, and had helped his sorry aft on more than one occasion. But Frenzy was dead, and with no other Decepticons with medical knowledge reported anywhere near this solar system Barricade was on his own. He hoped that the damage was less serious than he had thought, and that with time his self repair systems would start kicking in.

It was now obvious that it wasn't going to.

But he was nothing if not a stubborn little glitch, and so he continued on, pushing his damaged frame as far as it would go. Possibilities filled his processor, the ideas driving him on. There was always the hope that the others would make landfall. That maybe reinforcements were close at hand, and Hook would be among them. And if he could stay online long enough to make contact then he could make if off this miserable planet alive.

However, his luck never seemed to work that way.

He had been forced to stop behind a couple of structures that, thankfully, didn't have any signs of human activity. As more and more power was diverted to keep his spark stabilized, other functions began to shut down systematically, motor functions, weapons, trans-scanner, comm unit, . . .

One by one his systems shut down, and as he could sense less and less of his surroundings, Barricade felt a growing wave of claustrophobia.

While he struggled to remain conscious, he became vaguely aware that at some point the weather had taken a foul turn. Some of the water began to seep beneath his warped hood, and small droplets began to drip onto damaged circuits. The resulting sparks shot jolts of sharp pain through his sensors. As if his current agony wasn't enough.

And it was during this struggle against the pain and lock down, that he became aware of the tiny human. The sharp pang that came from his steering wheel focused him long enough to see that the organic had crawled in through his busted window. But before he could fully process his thoughts his systems finally gave out, sending him forcibly into stasis lock.

 

 

The next morning wasn't very bright by any means. Thick clouds still hung overhead as a grim reminder of the storm that had passed, leaving the sky a dull and murky gray. The air was a bit warmer than yesterday, with only the occasional chilly breeze interrupting the morning.

Jodi woke to sore and cramped muscles. As she rubbed her eyes with the backs of her hands, she stretched her legs out in an attempt to loosen some of the stiffness. She was still cold, but at least most of her clothes had dried during the night. Her tattered jeans were still damp, but she figured that she could live with it. Suddenly remembering where she was, Jodi straitened and glanced around.

She was slightly disappointed to note that the cop car didn't look much better now than it had in the dark. Curious fingers stretched out to lightly brush the computer that was fixed to the front of the dash. She traced the fine web of cracks that had rendered the screen useless.

She gave a small frown. Was there anything that _wasn't_ damaged?

A part of her that undoubtedly came from her father urged her to take a better look at the entire vehicle. Not even her father had ever laid his hands on a police interceptor, and her curiosity was steadily growing. She was not a mechanic, and never would be, but she had been told once that she had his eye. She had his intuition, but not his technical know-how.

But that was a different age of her life, back in her days of tinkering with her Mother's home appliances. That era had long since past.

She shifted in her seat as she debated with herself, but her heritage soon won out.

Suddenly spurred into action, Jodi groped along the side of her seat and slid it back as far as it could go. She folded her tiny frame beneath the dashboard, twisting so she was on her back. She squinted a little, until her good eye adjusted to the lighting.

She gave a low whistle.

There seemed to be hundreds of wires, all damaged or severed all together, and _all_ of them were tangled in a delicate mess. She fingered what was left of a red cable, eying it critically. There were circuits down there too, as well as components and sections she had no name for.

She chewed a thumbnail thoughtfully. Wanting to finish her inspection, Jodi crawled out from under the dash and let herself out of the car.

As she shut the door behind her something caught her attention. She closed her damaged right eye, peering closer at the words inscribed right above the rear wheels. She traced the letters with a single fingertip, making sure that she had read it correctly.

_To punish and enslave._

Great. _Someone_ on the force had a sense of humor. That, or someone took the whole "good cop, bad cop" a tad too seriously. Bad jokes aside she turned her attention back to the rest of the car. She palmed the frame as she walked towards the front, letting her hands help her imagine what it once looked like. She marveled at the gouges that marred the sides, thinking them reminiscent of claw marks, and wondering what had really caused them. The windshield was so close to shattering it was amazing it didn't come apart in the storm. Dents, broken glass and gouges aside, it wasn't hard to picture what the interceptor had looked like.

"Musta' been pretty, all shiny and new," she mused aloud. "Daddy would have _loved_ to see you run." A small scenario suddenly ran through her mind making her grin, her hand pausing on the crumpled hood of the car. "Mama would a' _killed_ him if he took a job like this."

With some difficulty, Jodi managed to pry open the crumpled hood, and peered inside. She quickly noticed several more wires and cables in need of repair and two large leaks that were steadily dripping a green fluid. In fact, the stuff was seeping from several places, and odder still was that it seemed to glow in the dim lighting.

How strange.

Her stomach suddenly gave a small gurgling noise, demanding her attention.

The tapped her fingers for a moment,drumming out a small beat as she rolled her findings over in her mind. She debated for a moment then slammed the hood shut.

No matter how interesting the interceptor was, she did have her priorities. Sadly, that had nothing to do with cars. Her stomach made itself known with a gurgle and a small cramp, reminding her that she was hungry. She hadn't eaten that much in the last couple of days, and her hunger could no longer be ignored. Time to go shopping.

 

 

She eyed her mark carefully, and guessed their age to be about a year or two older than herself. Except about eight inches taller and with more curves than a high schooler should legally have. The girl was well dressed and had her bottle blond hair up in a style that Jodi knew must have taken an hour. She was too busy giving the cute guy at the bus stop a barbie-doll smile to notice that some street rat had swiped her backpack.

Once safely away, Jodi rummaged through the girl's things, hoping for a bagged lunch. She quickly tossed out the schoolbooks and work binders, having no use for them. A whole collection of makeup soon followed, but she pocketed the Blackberry mobile phone after shutting it off. She hummed triumphantly as she discovered the sparkly purple wallet complete with student ID, a debit card, and roughly sixty bucks in cash. Attached to the debit card was a sticky note with a scribbled reminder

_1372_

_Get groceries on the way home._

_(heart)- Mom_

 

"Shit," Jodi breathed, not quite believing her luck. "What a _ditz!_ "

She paused for a moment to debate the morals of what she was about to do, but squashed it harshly. What other choice did she have, really? And opportunities like this happened so rarely . . .

She looked down at the little plastic card and read the name.

_Well, miss Geraldine Thompson, thank you for your generous donation._

Two hours, and several ATM's later, Jodi soon found herself in the possession of something in the vicinity of a thousand dollars. Once finished with her bank raid, she quickly placed a small stack of twenties in her stolen wallet and stashed the rest in her backpack. She quickly entered the nearest burger joint and treated herself to the largest meal she had enjoyed in months. Cheeseburger, fries and a Coke never tasted so good in her life.

Stomach full and her mind in good spirits, Jodi couldn't help but pause as she passed a local hardware store. The broken down cop car flashed in her mind, with it's shattered windows and messed up wiring.

She didn't quite understand what made her step inside those double doors. It wasn't as if she could fix the damn thing.

But the memory of the trashed wires lingered.

Wires she knew. And it was one of the few things she knew _well_.

She browsed the isles, quickly declining the clerks offer of assistance, and began to select items. A moment later she grabbed one of the small shopping carts when she realized there was going to be more than she could carry. Spools of different grades of wire were dumped into the cart and was swiftly followed by pliers, electrical tape, wire cutters, clamps, wire strippers, and a small hand-held soldering iron. As an afterthought she also grabbed a pair of work gloves that were two sizes too big and a small duffel bag.

It wasn't like all of this was going to fit in her backpack.

And so with her stash of stolen money strapped to her back, and a heavily loaded duffel slung over her shoulder, Jodi backtracked to where she had found the interceptor the night before.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After today, edited chapters will be posted once a week until this fic is completed. If I have time I might have some art to go with some parts of the story. See you all next week.


	3. Chapter 3

 

When Jodi finally rediscovered the interceptor's location, she gave a small triumphant smile. The office buildings the car had been tucked behind were still as vacant as they were this morning, and it seemed that this street didn’t see all that much traffic. She could count on one hand the number of cars she had seen and hadn’t spotted a single pedestrian anywhere near this block.

If nothing else, it looked like this was a good spot to settle into a makeshift camp, especially if she wanted to keep away from people.

She carefully placed her backpack in the back seat of the car, then promptly began to set her new supplies out where they would be within easy reach. With everything laid out in some sense of order, the slight girl twisted her messy curls up into a haphazard bun and fastened it in place with her very last hair tie. She had enough trouble seeing without her hair getting in the way.

With that taken care of, and with all the tools in some sort of order, she quickly popped the hood and debated where to begin.

After a short internal debate, the multitude of leaks became the first things that Jodi focused her attention on. The wires would still be in the same condition a few hours from now, but as the minutes ticked by more and more of the fluid would could be seen seeping slowly away. With her tiny hands guarded by thick oversized gloves, Jodi began clamping off the sections that were dripping. Now that she was really paying attention and was shoulder-deep in the vehicle she noticed that there were actually three kinds of liquid that were leaking. The most prominent was the softly glowing green stuff that she had noticed that morning, and the rest was some sort of dark oil, and another type of glowing fluid, this time a soft shimmery pink.

"What the _Hell_ are the cops putting in there cars?" Jodi grumbled, wishing desperately that her father was here to help her. He'd probably be explaining what everything was and what it did. Or at least he'd have a better idea than her.

The smaller leaks were quickly resolved with little fuss, but as she moved onto some of the larger ones the excess fluids made her grip slick and it became more and more difficult to secure the clamps in place.

Whatever the pink glowing stuff was, Jodi learned quickly that it was definitely _not_ friendly to her skin.

"Ow, _shit_!"

With the sharp _clank_ of dropped tools, Jodi scrambled out from under the hood, feeling as if her arm were on fire. Swearing colorfully, she snatched up her torn sweatshirt and began frantically wiping at her arm.

Her grip had completely slipped, pitching her forward and planting her left forearm right into one of the leaking lines. It was the only major line left open that was still dripping the pink liquid. And whatever the stuff was it burned like a bitch.

Lucky her.

Realizing that just wiping at it wasn't doing any good, she stumbled over to one of the abandoned buildings, her eyes frantically searching the perimeter. She found a water spigot hidden behind some half-dead bushes, quickly turning it on full blast and held her arm under the spray. She gritted her teeth against the initial sting, but the water was frigidly cold and soon had a numbing affect, taking some of the edge off the pain.

She stood there shaking like a leaf for the next ten minutes as she let the water wash away the burning liquid. Once she was absolutely sure it was all gone she turned the spray off. Cold drops of water ran down her arm as she inspected the damage. A thick angry red line ran most of the length of her arm, starting about two inches from her wrist and ending just before her elbow. Definitely a chemical burn.

Just fabulous.

Jodi worked her hand open and closed, trying to distract herself from the pain. Her arm was still stinging horribly and she could feel the tears slowly welling in her eyes. What was she thinking anyway? She shouldn't even be touching a car much less trying to fix one! What had gotten into her?

Suddenly insecure, she started doubting herself. She should just forget the car. Just walk away, take her stolen money with her and move on to the next town. She would just disappear.

_That's it, run away. It's all you're good at anyway_ , a traitorous thought hissed, sounding disturbingly like her uncle.

Now on the edge of a full on breakdown, another voice came to mind, pulling her back and settled her down. An old memory swept through her, and with it came a sense of calm and renewed determination.

Slowly, Jodi took a deep heaving breath and collected herself. She turned her head a bit to stare at the wreck of a car before making her way over. Using what little she had Jodi improvised a bandage by sacrificing a relatively clean section of her sweatshirt and electrical tape. Once it was secure she slung her backpack over her right shoulder and stuffed her wallet in her back pocket. With her luggage in tow she began to walk away to a busier section of town.

But she'd be back.

She just needed to make another shopping trip. If she was doing this, she was going to need some sort of first aid kit, the last thing she needed was an infection, especially out here where no one gave a damn.

Her father's words rang in her ears, driving her on. The sentence was so simple but she clung to it like a lifeline, refusing to let it go.

_"Always finish what you start."_

 

 

When he first came back online he thought he was dead and had been sent to the darkest recesses of the Pit.

Everything was blacked out, and in that suffocating darkness he felt trapped, backed into a tiny corner with no salvation in sight. Panicked and disoriented, it was impossible to get his bearings.

He couldn't see. He couldn't hear.

But he could feel.

And he wished to Primus that he couldn't.

His whole world was agony. He fought tooth and nail to suppress it, ignore it, _anything_ to make it stop. He was soon rewarded when the strain of his struggle sent him back into peaceful oblivion.

The second time he came online was almost identical to the first. The pain was still there with it's overwhelming intensity, but something was different. It was such a small thing, insignificant really, but in his state of mind he latched onto it like a starving mech clings to energon. It was an anchor, a tiny beacon of light in this never ending darkness.

Because through all the pain he could sense something else.

Touch.

A light pressure so small and fleeting that his processor almost convinced him that he had imagined it. Then it came again. As he passed in and out of consciousness the touch remained, reassuring in it's consistency.

He was alive.

And he wasn't alone.

 

 

As the days passed Jodi began to feel paranoid.

It had started off as small things that were easily dismissed at first. A light blinking once and then remaining off, a wire that was whole and intact when she was sure it had been frayed earlier in the day. . . all just little things that were easily imagined, or quickly explained away.

But this . . . there was no explanation for this.

Jodi stared at the computer screen in amazement, afraid to touch. Just three days ago she remembered the spiderweb of cracks that had encompassed the entire screen.

But they were gone.

Her mind quickly supplied that the car was haunted. She stamped out the thought quickly, scolding herself for letting her imagination get the better of her.

But how the hell did this happen? Things just don't go and fix themselves!

As Jodi fretted in the passenger seat, she played with the fresh bandages on her arm and trying to rationalize it but failing miserably. And as her logic failed, it gave her imagination permission to play with the maybes and what-ifs. And the abandoned area where the car was located _certainly_ wasn't helping any.

_The cop was probably brutally murdered on the job_ , her mind supplied, then oh so helpfully began filling in the details. _Probably caught some creep for a routine traffic stop and got more than he bargained for. Could have been some sort of ambush . . . there's enough people around with a vendetta against the police. Just disposed of the body and then dumped the car so it wouldn't be found right away._

Jodi quickly reined herself in, sternly telling herself that she was being ridiculous. There had to be a proper explanation, she just didn't know it yet.

There were no such things as ghosts.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was gonna post these on Wednesday but realized I would probably forget by the time I got home from the corporate Christmas party. So, here we are. One more chapter will be up momentarily.


	4. Chapter 4

 

His systems were coming back online.

The improvements were small at first, and through his hazed mind they were barely acknowledged. And then more noticeable changes were felt and his lucid moments became longer and occurred more frequently.

Slowly Barricade's panic and claustrophobia began to ebb.

His internal repair system had apparently activated at long last. While he was awake he could feel the irritation of glass and dermal plating knitting itself back together. The progress was slow and painful, but it was there none the less.

Every time he woke more and more systems had activated, and with them severed power and fuel lines were miraculously re-established. Reconnected and repaired. It was clear he wouldn't be working at optimum efficiency any time in the near future, but he was operational. If only barely. He was still in pain, but it was no longer crippling. It had settled to a lower intensity, allowing him to think a little more clearly.

Barricade had no idea how long he had been incapacitated. Time was a distorted and elusive thing with no knowledge of his surroundings and no way to measure it with his chronometer still offline. There was only one constant in the midst of it all. The faint touches had remained as constant as they were persistent, and were the only thing keeping his processor from insanity. They kept him focused.

Grounded.

Sometimes sharper stabs of pain would accompany the touch, but when that happened it was almost always followed by a sense of relief.

It was clear to him now that he had been found and was currently undergoing repairs. But it was obviously the work of an amateur. Full medics were meticulous creatures who repaired things in a specific order, but whoever was working on him was doing repairs at random with no order at all.

When his visual feed returned he made a shocking discovery.

In an instant his thoughts and emotions boiled, with rage, disgust and confusion all vying for dominance. He focused more clearly on the tiny human youngling that was elbow deep in his framework, and his anger flared to the forefront. How _dare_ the little insect touch him! The need for retaliation burned through him, and he wished for nothing more than to destroy it with his bare hands.

He tried to scream and transform only to quickly discover that his body was both mute and paralyzed.

Pain suddenly jolted through his systems and his anger faltered when he instantly realized his audios were now operational. There was a sharp yelp, and through some static he could discern the human's voice. The sound quality left much to be desired, but it was clear enough to translate.

"Dammit, if I get zapped just _one more time_ I swear to _god_ I'm gonna . . ." the human trailed off as she wrestled with some exposed wires and a roll of electrical tape.

He felt his CPU threaten to lock up as he began to fully realize his situation.

Barricade observed her as she worked, silently watching as she moved on to other fritzed wires, patching and replacing them as she went. The tiny femme was painfully slow, but the work was passable as a temporary fix.

Barely.

He just didn't understand. She was a tiny waif of a thing. Fragile. In all honesty, not even worth the energy it would take to squash her. Plus, the longer he observed her the more he was convinced she was unaware of what he was. Why was she attempting repairs in the first place?

As he watched on he took careful note of the extent of the fleshling's work, and was suddenly _very_ aware of how close to death he had come.

And with that he came to a second and much more distressing revelation.

He was _indebted_ to this human.

The thought was sour and left a bitter aftertaste. There were few among his kind who still followed any of the old traditions, however loosely, and fewer still who would acknowledge the truth of this particular situation for what it was.

Anger still boiled within his processor, but for now he would wait.

Dept or not, maybe he could turn this to his advantage.

 

 

Within two days Jodi began to notice a pattern. The more wire and hose she patched and replaced, the quicker the car seemed to fix itself. There was still a ton of frame damage, and all the oddball circuitry and mechanics were still a mess, but the improvements were obvious. Besides the monitor, the entire front windshield was now free of spider webbing and the driver side window was slowly returning. It was like watching a cut scab over, as it began the healing process.

It terrified her at first. With every new discovery she felt a chill creep up her spine, and she would have sworn that she felt eyes on her. It was worse when night fell, the feeling intensifying as she curled up in the back seat to sleep. Like if she touched the wrong thing something horrible would swoop down on her. Fear had been a part of her life for so long now, and between all the ghost stories still lingering in her mind and the ever present fear of being found by the authorities, it was astounding that she got any sleep at all.

But in some ways she was more afraid to stop.

And so she continued working and the cop car continued to improve.

During those few days Jodi would stop only to eat, scampering away to the busier parts of the city for food and drink, only to return an hour or two later and pick up where she left off. When she finally wore herself out enough to rest she would lean the passenger seat all the way back and stretch out to get comfortable. After dark when she tried to catch some actual sleep, she would sometimes see the lights on the dash come on for a while before fading back out. She even thought she saw the monitor come on once, but it was so brief and with her impaired vision she wasn't sure.

But then it all just _stopped._

A day passed, then two. But nothing else seemed to improve on the car.

Jodi double and triple checked her work, trying to figure out if there was anything she missed, any more she could do. But no, there was nothing else she was capable of fixing on her own. The rest of the mechanics and the circuitry were well beyond her knowledge. At a whopping four foot eleven, she certainly wasn't strong enough to hammer out the dents, and didn't have the faintest clue how to fix the gashes on the side paneling. Not like she had access to the necessary equipment anyways.

She had hit a roadblock.

Not really in her right mind she dug under the crumpled hood once more. Tiny hands felt around, exploring, testing. Her good eye peered into the crevices of the battered machine, looking for _something,_ anything that she could do something about. But there was nothing left that was familiar. There were no more wires that she hadn't already worked on, no more cracked lines dripping fluids that would burn her skin . . . but still she looked.

"You have no idea what you're doing."

Jodi froze in place.

She berated herself for not hearing anyone coming. Her whole frame trembled, and her heart pounded thunderously in her chest. She slowly turned to peer over her shoulder to see a tall mustached man.

Cold terror welled her chest for a moment as familiarity briefly touched her. But then she noticed the police uniform and realized that the voice was all wrong. Her panic subsided a little. That is, until the man suddenly flickered, his entire body becoming semitransparent before returning back to normal. A scream froze in her throat.

"The car _is_ haunted!" she gasped.

The man let loose a deep bellowing laugh. "Hardly!" He slowly approached her, cold dark eyes observing her move to scamper around the car. "And just where do you think you're going?"

Looking over her shoulder, Jodi stumbled in her escape and hastily caught herself on the passenger door of the cruiser, her leg thumping audibly against the gouged side paneling. And then she stared in amazement as the ghost faltered and clutched his right side as if in pain. His form faded out for a moment, his outline shimmering like static interference on an old TV.

Jodi froze in fear as he glared harshly at her. "Watch where you land fleshling!" he growled, his heated gaze faltering as his form stumbled.

"Are . . . are you alright?" she asked timidly.

That deep laugh erupted again, but it was off kilter. Unstable. "Am I _alright_? My body is practically a scrap heap and I've been reduced to taking repairs from a human adolescent. _No_ , I am not _alright_!" His voice lowered to a rumbling growl. "Now, if you value your existence you will remove yourself from my door!"

She hastily stepped away from the car, her mind whirling. Her mismatched eyes stared as the form straightened and composed himself, becoming solid once more. His words ran circles in her head and her mind raced to realize why they didn't fit.

"Wha-" she swallowed and tried again. "What do you want from me?"

He canted his head slightly, his anger still present in his posture, but his voice had calmed. "Nothing more than what you have already offered freely."

Her fear ran wild. "I haven't offered you anything!"

"Really now. I don't recall asking to be repaired by the likes of you."

It suddenly clicked. And as the thoughts rolled around she felt her eyes dart back and forth between the wrecked car and the image standing before her.

"You . . .you're-"

She couldn't say it. The very concept was wild in and of itself, and was _so_ out there Jodi was sure this all had to be some sort of insane dream. It couldn't be real. It _wasn't!_

But it all fit. The monitor and windshield repairing itself, the glitching lights . . . . The car wasn't haunted.

It was _alive._

The thought was so overwhelming that Jodi suddenly lost her balance and fell back to land heavily on her rump. A shadow fell over her and she looked up into a semitransparent face, his expression slightly curious.

"You're the car."

A small arrogant grin. "Yes."

"And you want me to _fix you_?"

He lifted his chin almost indignantly and clarified. "I require assistance in repairs, yes."

She mulled that over for a moment. "Why me?"

There was a long silence then.

Jodi squirmed uncomfortably under his gaze. And just when she thought that he wasn't going to answer, the tall figure of the police officer crouched down so they were more or less at eye level. His answer was cold and held the harsh sting of truth.

"I have no one else."

 


	5. Chapter 5

Whoever decided that patience was a virtue needed to be introduced to a slow and excruciating death.

Never in all his vorns had Barricade been described as a patient mech. Impulsive, rash and irritable, yes, but never patient. Given the current situation and all its factoring aspects, Barricade was doing a rather admirable job of reigning in his temper. But despite the effort his frustration was still getting the better of him.

He had heard that humans could be fearful creatures, but he had no idea exactly to what extent.

Ever since he had revealed himself to the little organic she had become extremely flighty and _unbelievably_ skittish. Her muscles would tense or twitch whenever there was an unfamiliar noise or if his holographic image moved too sharply. During one such instance a distant car horn blared and Barricade thought that she had undone some of his repairs for sure. And to top it off she would avoid looking at his Holo if at all possible, and would cringe away from it all together whenever his voice reached a certain pitch.

The little creature took direction well enough he supposed, but every time she had one of her little panic attacks she would end up making stupid mistakes that would require her additional time to fix. The resulting pace of repairs was agonizingly slow and was leaving him increasingly more irritable.

And the fact that he owed _this_ human such a large debt certainly wasn't helping matters.

Idly he wondered if this really was the same human who had been working on him just yesterday. The work was sloppy regardless, but at least she had done the repairs with _some_ level of confidence. At this rate she was slowly driving him insane.

His annoyance finally reached its peak when he realized that she was still working over the same section she had begun some twenty minutes ago.

"Can't you work any faster?" he ground out, wishing his Holo were solid enough to throw something.

Her grip slipped at his voice. "I-I . . . well, I'm _trying!_ It’s not like it’s easy! This whole section is so jacked it's hard to see." With a shaky hand she gestured vaguely at a small section under his hood where some thousands of pounds of pressure had compressed several components together in an oddly warped mass. "Looking at all this . . . how'd ya get this bad off anyway?"

If he wasn't bristling before he sure was now.

"I fail to see how _that_ is any of your business!" he snarled. He let his holographic image fizz out with a snap just to see her flinch.

He sulked in silence for the remainder of the morning and pointedly remained silent when the fleshy finally mustered the guts to ask a question.

Truth be told, he hadn't really thought about it since he came back online. And whenever a line of thought threatened to go down that road he would stubbornly shove it into the depths of his processor. It was still a gaping wound he had no intention of addressing anytime soon, and yet this annoying little organic had inadvertently thrown it in his face.

 

It had been only a few short months after the fall of their leader when Barricade had received the transmission. The remaining Decepticons on Earth gathered at Starscream's orders.

Remembering the assembled group, Barricade admitted that they had been a pretty sorry lot. He and Screamer were the only ones left from the original Earth crew, and the few that had made landfall since then had arrived in various states of disrepair. Of those to arrive, Starscream's trinemates Thundercracker and Skywarp had been in the best condition by far. The three seekers standing side by side had made a rather intimidating sight.

But they were remnants of the mighty Decepticon Army.

As soon as everyone had arrived, their self appointed leader began to outline his plans for a direct assault on the Autobot's newly established base.

The plan was a very flawed one, and you did not have to be intelligent to see it. By allying themselves with the humans, the Autobots had ready access to energy and resources. They had at one of their most efficient medical officers planetside. Even if they _had_ the advantage of numbers the odds were still not in their favor.

"Enough of this!"

All optics unexpectedly turned towards Thundercracker, of all mechs. Barricade had watched with the others when the seeker shook his head and then continued, his voice becoming bolder and more determined as he went.

"Just look at us Starscream! _Look_ at what we've been driven to! This would be suicide for most of us and you know it. You would lead us to our deaths, and for what? What are you trying to prove? Megatron is _dead_. The Allspark _destroyed_! It's over! We should-"

Barricade wished he didn’t remember the rest.

Thundercracker had staggered back with a scream when a cannon blast took out his left wing. Many scurried out of the way when Starscream lunged at his victim with a snarl.

"You soft sparked fool!"

Barricade watched in growing horror as the two seekers fought, though it had been brutally one sided.

He hadn’t realized he was in motion until his fist connected with the back of Starscreams helm.

Over and over he had cursed himself for his impulsiveness, but something had set fire to his circuits and refused to let go.

Starscream was the bigger mech by far, but unlike his Air Commander, Barricade was used to close quarters combat and used it to his full advantage. But Screamer was a tricky slagger and had written the book on underhanded tactics. When he realized there was no chance of winning the fight, Barricade had transformed with the intention of retreat.

He remembered screaming in agony when Starscream began ripping into him with his bare hands.

When he onlined hours later he realized he had been left with nothing but slowly failing systems and a dying mech at his side.

_Stupid stupid stupid._

The small gurgling chuckle beside him had signaled that Thundercracker was sill holding on.

He snarled at the mangled mech through his comm link. "What the Pit are you laughing at?"

Thundercracker had the bolts to grin while energon leaked down his face. "Y-your timing. Great moment to acquire a conscience . . . d-d-don't you think?"

"A conscience? _That_ was sheer _stupidity. That_ was a momentary lapse of _sanity._ Don't believe that I've gone noble or some slag like that."

"R-right. Still trying to pretend you're not like him?"

Warning bells had sounded somewhere in Barricade's processor. "Shut up," he ground. "Shut _up_! You don't know _slag_!"

"Know enough. C-crossed paths with him . . . on outskirts of this s-s-solar system. Probably . . . made landfall . . . after we . . ." The seeker's voice drifted into silence.

Barricade had peeled out as fast as his wheels could carry him.

Thundercracker was dead.

He was officially on his own.

 

He forcibly dragged himself away from his brooding to check up on the human youngling, eager for any sort of distraction.

She seemed to be stumped. He activated his Holo and moved to her right to see what had confused her.

She kept fiddling with the same cable seemingly at a loss of where to connect it. He watched her flounder for several minutes while she muttered to herself.

"Now where did he say . . . ?"

He leaned closer and pointed. "That cable is supposed to connect here."

She leapt back as if burned, distorting his Holoform as she passed through it. He turned to follow her movement and noticed her eyes were wide and watery like a frightened animal's.

"Don't _do_ that!" she cried, pumping her small fists in emphasis."Sneaking up on people is _not_ okay! I don't care who or _what_ you are!"

"Is your processor malfunctioning?" he asked, irritation flaring. "I have been standing well within your vision for nearly ten minutes."

"I didn't see you."

"If you hope to survive long in this world you really need to improve your observation skills. They're sorely lacking."

"No, you don't get it." She shook her head once and then lifted a hand to card delicate fingers through the dark hair. "I can't _see_."

For the first time he noted the faint scar that traced a vertical line over her right eye. The eye itself was paler than its counterpart, more opaque and cloudy. He had never considered that a difference in color could denote impaired vision.

"Were you created with this flaw?"

A sharp exhale. "No."

He waved a hand in a dismissive gesture. "Then repair it."

Her jaw dropped open. "Repair it? _Repair it_?" For the first time he saw true anger burn within her gaze. The fire seemed to speed through her entire frame and give it animation. She looked more alive now than when he first saw her ignorantly repairing his innards. "I'm not like you! I'm not a machine! When something is broken I can't just switch out parts!"

While she shouted her feet carried her a few steps closer. Her tiny frame barely came up to the ribcage of his Holoform, but he got the distinct impression that she was staring down at him.

" _Eighty five_ percent vision loss in my right eye! That loss is _permanent_! Do you understand that!? No matter what I'm stuck with this 'flaw' for the rest of my fucking life!"

Abruptly she froze, then her whole body staggered away like he had slapped her.

The fire that had burned so brightly was suddenly snuffed out in under a microsecond. Her whole posture spoke of fear and retreat.

He had no clue why that suddenly bothered him.

Breaking eye contact with his Holoform, the young human scampered to the other side of his physical body where he felt her settle against his rear wheel well.

He followed her slowly, contemplating. He still needed this creature's help, without a doubt. His systems were slowly on the mend, but he still wasn't mobile and he couldn't transform. The fleshling was useless to him if she left now, and he would be helpless to stop her. He _needed_ her to stay.

"How did you get damaged?" His voice was still rough, but it came out far less forceful than he would've liked.

"How did _you_ get damaged?" she bit back, reminding him of his mangled body.

There was silence as his thoughts conflicted.

"Well if you _must_ know," Barricade began, not completely sure why he was explaining himself at all. "I had a . . . _disagreement_ with one of my own kind."

Her knees drew up under her chin. "That must have been some disagreement" she murmured, her voice small and unstable. She tilted her head to the side and gave him a strange look. "So . . . there's more like you?"

He gave a sharp nod.

"So what exactly _are_ you guys?"

"Cybertronians. We are . . ." He paused, choosing his next words carefully. "Refugees, I suppose. Our home was destroyed in our war. Many of us were directed here."

"You're a soldier?"

"Too many questions," he growled.

And it was a loaded question, whether she realized it or not. How much did he want this organic to know? Or rather, how much did she _need_ to know?

"I . . . was. It's over now."

She gave a tiny nod. "I got in a disagreement too," she answered finally. Her voice tightened. "The same I guess. All just refugees . . ."

She started crying then and buried her face in her knees.

He watched silently, uncomfortable. Something within him twisted and suddenly he wasn't sure who was more damaged.

He convinced himself that he never wanted to know.


	6. Chapter 6

 Jodi withheld a gasp as she splashed cold water against her skin. Quickly grabbing a pilfered bottle of soap she began scrubbing at her arms and face vigorously, trying to rid herself of as much grime and grease that had accumulated as she could.

While she missed the novelty of hot water, personally she was amazed that the abandoned building had _any_ running water to begin with. After remembering the working spigot she had used to treat her chemical burn she had been quick to investigate the abandoned office building and make use of the facilities. Never mind that in order to do so she had to smash a rather large window.

She flipped her hair into the sink. As she massaged the soap in she let her thoughts wander.

It had been only a few days since her breakdown in front of her creepy companion, and the argument had yet to completely fade from her mind. She hardly remembered half of what she said, but she remembered the way his words had washed through her, sparking something inside her that had been dead for a long time.

For the first time in years Jodi lashed back in anger, and then mere moments later realized she was screaming. Her response was so conditioned that she forgot that his projection had no real substance and couldn't touch her.

She had expected retaliation. A slap. Shouting. _Something._

What she received instead was . . . what?

Answers were not what she had expected. Their talk was not exactly a heart-to-heart but it was certainly a far cry from their previous _conversations,_ such as they were. She still didn't really know what to really make of it.

After she pulled herself together she quietly returned to his repairs, insisting that she was fine. His instructions, while still gruff and to the point, weren't as harsh as they had been. She could tell he was still annoyed, but the insults were kept to a bare minimum. It was obvious he was making a conscious effort to control his rather volatile temper.

How considerate.

Jodi was still nervous during the following days, she was making repairs to an _alien_ after all, but she wasn't wound up as tight as she had been. As a result she was making less mistakes and she was working faster.

It was strange how easily life seemed to change around her, and how quickly she settled into each situation as it came.

Twisting off the faucet, she wrung out her hair then stopped to stare at herself in the large restroom mirror. She hardly recognized the girl staring back at her.

Wet curls clung to her skin, creating a dark frame around her dripping face. Jodi traced the reflection of her milky right eye with two delicate fingers before dropping them to her forearm. The chemical burn was still healing, the long red mark was bright and ugly against her skin. She stared at the irritated flesh moments before wrapping it in fresh gauze.

Just one more scar in the making.

Jodi remembered when both her eyes were dark forest green and her skin was clean and clear of blemishes. She remembered when her biggest fear was making an idiot of herself in front of the other kids at school, and when her biggest thrill was swiping her mother's new electronics and seeing how they were put together. Back when she was thirteen and nothing else mattered except school and friends.

But two years had changed everything.

When the news came out the school staff were very _understanding_. The teachers asked very few questions, and her classmates none at all. The few that dared to broach the subject were naturally polite and sympathetic, but instead of comforting Jodi found it uncomfortable. She quickly learned all the right answers to give, the ones that made the situation awkward and prevented them from prying further.

Her friends quickly stopped inviting her to outings. She lost interest in her pet projects, and the half finished electronics slowly collected dust in the garage.

Then she moved and suddenly she was the weird new kid. By the time she had bruises to hide she had effectively alienated anyone who would have noticed.

She had long since gotten used to being ignored, and she had long since learned to keep things to herself.

While her thoughts stewed Jodi turned from the mirror and proceeded to get dressed. Her ripped jeans and sneakers were old and well worn, but the oversized black hoodie was new, and had been lifted from a thrift store that morning. Stealing had slowly become a fact of this new life. It didn't take long for her to realize that when you were a runaway teenager cash was hard to come by legally. When you had a limited supply you were forced to make it last.

Once Jodi was finished, she put her hair up in a messy ponytail and tucked her bottle of soap into her sweatshirt pocket. She hopped out through the broken window, mindful of the jagged edges.

Jodi rounded the corner and her steps faltered at the sight before her.

The interceptor was sitting where it always was, but it's appearance had drastically changed in the hour or so she had been gone. She knew some of it had slowly fixed itself since she first began, for example all the glass was once again whole, as were the damaged side view mirrors. The paint was still marred of course, and the passenger door still had three large gouges decorating it's side panel, but the crumpled hood was more or less straitened out. As were several of the larger dents that had been scattered all across the framework.

She stepped closer, internally admiring how well the repairs were coming together even as the rate of progress frightened her.

It was then when her eye spotted the tall officer darting about. The alien's human shaped hologram was busy gathering up her scattered tools and stuffing them haphazardly into her duffel bag. He spared her a brief glance, acknowledging her arrival.

"Primus, you took forever. I was beginning to think you decided to self terminate."

She decided to ignore the implication of suicide, along with the hallow feeling in her chest that went with it.

"Sorry, I-" she paused. Her mind was suddenly reeled over the scene, screaming at her that something was off. She shook her head in an attempt to clear it. "Um, never mind. What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" he zipped the bag closed before chucking it at her. She caught it with a loud "oomph" and stumbled back at the weight. "Pack up. We're leaving."

Jodi stared openly in realization. "How did you do that?"

"What are you on about now?"

"You threw it," she said, indicating her duffel bag. "So . . . what? You solid now? Since when?"

"It's a hard light Holoform," he informed her crisply. "My systems were not capable of supporting one until this morning."

A cold chill ran up her spine as she realized how the dents mysteriously fixed themselves. The implied strength behind that was terrifying.

She gave a small nervous smile. "Well, this is good news for you right? You can work on your own repairs now."

The tall image paused to lean back against his physical body. He crossed his arms over his chest and gave her an appraising look. "If you're worried about your usefulness, some of my repairs will require two sets of hands. I have already gathered that you have nowhere else to go."

Jodi gaped. "That's not . . . what I mean is-"

Her vocal cords froze as he shifted forward, the uniformed figure taking several long strides towards her. The posture was vaguely aggressive and her mind unhelpfully supplied images of the last man she knew who moved like that. Once more she was reminded of the similarities, and she was suddenly hard pressed to keep her hands from shaking.

Dark eyes examined her critically.

"This form makes you uncomfortable."

"No! I mean-"

"No?" His eyes narrowed. "Really."

His arm shot out, his hand landing heavily on her thin shoulder. Jodi's heart was a jackhammer thumping painfully behind her ribs and her skin broke out in fine tremors.

"Foolish child. I may not be human but I've been hiding among them for some time. Your bodies give you away."

Jodi took a slow step back. He allowed it, letting his hand slide harmlessly from her shoulder. Her voice was soft. "You- this Holoform I mean, it . . . it just reminds me of someone I knew."

The faces weren't identical, but there was enough in common to set her on edge. Especially when he raised his voice.

"I see." His expression became annoyed and strangely put upon. "If it will make you more comfortable I suppose I could create a new one."

"You can do that?"

"Of course. However it will require more time and energy than I currently have available." He gestured towards his physical body and the passenger door swung open, almost invitingly. "Are you capable of tolerating this form for a few more days or do I leave you here? Frankly, I don't care either way."

An unfamiliar feeling surged through her, making her clutch her duffel tighter to her chest.

He was giving her the choice. It had been _so long_ since she had a real choice in anything . . .

_Always finish what you start._

A strange sense of calm came over her. Seemingly on their own, her feet carried her to the open door. She set her bag on the floorboard before settling herself in the passenger seat. She turned her head towards her companion, giving him a faint smile.

He gave her a sharp nod and then dissolved into thin air. The door slammed itself shut and the engine roared to life for the first time, the vibrations shaking the seat under her. She scrambled for her seat belt and noticed his Holoform had reappeared in the driver's seat.

The mustang shifted into gear and peeled out. Jodi stared out the window, watching as the abandoned buildings faded into the distance. She silently bade farewell to the place she had resided for the past two weeks.

Jodi turned to her companion when she realized something.

"So . . . do you actually have a name or do I just start calling you 'officer'?"

He shot her an annoyed look as they pulled onto a busy main street. "My designation is Barricade."

"Barricade . . ." She brought one knee up and settled herself against the door, not unlike how she slept that first night when she found him. "I'm Jodi."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Expect two more edited chapters by next week. Happy New Years everyone! See you next year.


	7. Chapter 7

_Jodi sat on the living room floor, and was biting the end of her pencil. A notebook sat under her elbow and her text book lay open on the coffee table, the pages taunting her. She poured over her math homework, annoyed that the subject kept getting harder with every year of school._

_It was only a week in and already she decided that sixth grade officially sucked._ _A loud crash came from the kitchen, followed by a scream and the booming voice of her father. "_ Get the hell out of my house! _"_

_Jodi's head whipped around in time to see a tall man in a ruffled business suit stumble out of the kitchen. He rubbed his stubbled cheek with the back of his hand, dark eyes blazing. Jodi could spot the small line of blood coming from his lip._

_He whirled around to face the small wiry form of her father who was hot on his heels. "You're making a mistake Nick," he ground out. "It_ works. _Think of how this could affect Erica and-"_

_He was interrupted as he was shoved hard towards the door. "You keep them out of this you son of a bitch!"_

_Jodi stood, utterly confused. "Daddy? Uncle David? What's going on?"_

_Her father turned just long enough to point at her. "Jodi, stay in the house!" he ordered before shoving her uncle unceremoniously through the front door._

_The screen slammed shut behind them._

_Quick as a mouse Jodi dropped her pencil onto the table and darted to the window. She peered out through the blinds, wondering what was happening._

_Her father was stalking across the yard like an angry wolf, herding her uncle towards the street._

_"Now, Nick, be reasonable! I-"_

_"Get off my property before I call the cops!"_

_Uncle David shook his head angrily before climbing into his shiny black sedan._

_"Jodi?"_

_Jodi leaped from the window guiltily._

_Her mother stood in the kitchen doorway, visibly shaking. It almost seemed like the only thing holding her up was the door frame. Worried, the girl quickly ran up to her and was immediately swept up into a tight hug._

_Fear began to creep into Jodi's heart._

_"Mama, what's wrong?"_

_The older woman just stroked her daughter's curly hair and held her tighter. Tears were streaking down her face. "It's alright baby, everything will be fine. He won't let anything happen to us. We'll be fine."_

_Tires squealed outside._

_"We'll be fine. I_ promise. _"_

 

 

For a guy who insisted he was still gravely injured, Barricade sure as Hell made great time.

Jodi had never been on the road so long in her entire life. The one time her family had taken a vacation together she was five and she distinctly remembered sleeping during the whole flight to Honolulu. But that couldn't really compare to the insane road trip that Barricade had decided to take them on.

They had started off that morning in the middle of California, and within the first day they had made their way right up through Oregon and into the heart of Washington state. They stopped only twice, and both times Jodi had relished the chance to stretch her legs. They made camp (so to speak) somewhere just outside Seattle late that evening.

Almost as soon as they parked Barricade had them dive right back into his repairs.

Now that his Holo could physically interact with things Jodi took more of a backseat role in his repairs. For that first night she held up a flashlight and played the part of the assistant. She handed him tools as needed and held things steady when asked. It didn't take long for her to realize he was going back over the repairs she had made before he could speak with her. Jodi knew she had done her best, but as she watched him she realize just how poor her work was.

With that firmly in her mind she watched as close as she could without getting in the way. She learned well by observation, and she didn't want to miss anything. Noticing her keen attention he began to explain the repairs as he made them or would go over what was wrong in the first place. A lot of it was complex and most of it went way over her head. His tone of his voice was still rough and sharp, almost pained, but the fact that he even bothered said something.

At some point during the night a thought came to her. "Uh, Barricade?"

"Yes?" He drew out the word, clearly annoyed at the interruption after some thirty minutes of silence.

"Exactly how long will it take until you're fixed?"

"Without a trained medic doing the work it's hard to say. Several months if I'm lucky."

"Several _months_?" She tried to wrap her head around that one. "Why so long? You seemed to be healing pretty damn fast on your own."

"Believe it or not repair systems can only do so much for a mech. If you snapped a couple of your tiny organic limbs would you trust it to completely heal on its own?" She shook her head. "Well, there you have it."

"How long would it have taken if I didn't find you?"

He paused for a moment, then set his tools down. "I think that's enough for tonight."

The Holoform dissolved like mist in the wind, effectively ending their session before she could ask anything else.

"Oh . . . okay." She stepped back and the hood of the car came down on it's own.

As she settled down for the night, Jodi remembered the damage she had been witness to. A lot had been fixed since then, but she remembered the large amount of burning fluid in stark detail. Tons of it had been on the scene. It didn't take a genius to work out that the leaks had been there for some time, and that Barricade had been on the road for a large portion of it. Plus she thought there was probably much more damage that they currently couldn't reach.

She imagined that the fluids were more like blood and wondered if she had essentially applied a tourniquet. But if that were the case . . .

_Well, shit._

If that was right . . . then . . .

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, and nervously burrowed herself further into her sweatshirt.

No wonder he dropped the question so fast. All the time in the world wouldn't have done him any good.

He would have been dead.

 

 

Jodi gently pawed at the heavy hunting jacket, envious of the thick inner lining. She meandered further down the isle where dozens of similar coats were all lined up. She had already discreetly pocketed a pair of wool gloves that were hopefully her size, and was trying to work out how she could swipe a scarf without being noticed. Or maybe a hat. She let loose a resigned sigh and moved on to a different section of the surplus store towards the camping gear. With any luck she would be able to find something a little more . . . useful.

As they traveled the weather continued to change around them, and the further they drove east the more bitter and cold the air became. Acclimated to mild California winters, Jodi was quickly realizing that t-shirts and cotton hoodies simply weren't gonna cut it out here.

The last few days had followed much the same pattern of the first. They would travel for most of the day and when Barricade was satisfied with the ground covered they would find some place secluded and set up for the night. They would work on his repairs into the night and would be back on the move again early the next morning.

It was almost like now that he was mobile he never wanted to stop.

Then, finally, the routine was broken. By late morning Barricade had dropped her off in the main part of this no-name town saying he would be back in two hours. He gave no real explanation before speeding off and out of sight.

Jodi relished the chance to stretch her legs in the light of day and was quick to occupy herself. She treated herself to a large lunch at the local deli before setting off to explore the few shops in the area.

An hour in she had found the army surplus store and discovered it had more interesting things than she would have thought. Seeing that the lone clerk was in the middle of helping another customer she wound her way through the isles, letting her fingers trail over some of the things that caught her eye.

She was mostly killing time, and since her cash was so limited she avoided using it on anything other than food.

Jodi paused at the first aid kits reminding herself that she was running low on gauze.

If she had been paying attention she would have noticed that the clerk had long since finished up with his customer, and had been shadowing the scruffy adolescent that was prowling his shop.

 


	8. Chapter 8

_Damn it all to the Pit!_

Tires squealed as Barricade whipped around the corner with more speed than strictly necessary. His engine roared as he accelerated on the straightaway, and the other vehicles on the road made it a point to give him a healthy amount of space.

Frustration boiled through his circuits, making his whole frame shake.

_Where is that fragging organic?_

Two hours, two _measly_ hours and the human wandered off like an errant sparkling!

He should just abandon her here in this Primus forsaken town and be done with it. It would be all too easy to turn around and disappear into the horizon. It would serve her right for not following a simple set of directions.

But he couldn't. Not yet. His debt still lingered in the back of his processor, mocking him, and that small part of himself that still clung to his tattered honor demanded that he stay.

Besides . . . despite his improvements he reminded himself that his repairs were barely thirty percent complete. His long range sensors were still shot, forcing him to rely on short range sensors and human airwaves to keep tabs on and unusual activity. To top it off his transformation cogs were out of alignment, effectively leaving him trapped in his alt mode. He would be all but useless in a fight, and should an Autobot encounter arise a human hostage could be useful.

And so here he was scouring the streets for one tiny organic when he could be putting more distance between himself and others of his kind.

While he was brooding a police dispatch suddenly had his full attention.

_Son of a-_

He made an abrupt u-turn. Horns blared and a few drivers swerved to avoid him. He headed back to towards the heart of town, lights blazing and cursing all the way.

 

 

"Let me outta here you bastard! HEY!"

Jodi pounded uselessly at the chain link storage cage she had been locked in. She spotted the clerk in his office down the hall. The man gave her a smug look over his desk as he spoke in hushed tones over the phone.

Jodi bit her lip and turned away, plopping her tiny frame heavily on an empty wood crate.

She heard a clock ticking in the corner and glanced up at the time.

A low groan escaped her and she buried her face helplessly in her hands. She was supposed to meet back up with Barricade thirty minutes ago. She shuddered to think about what kind of temper he was in right about now, and wondered what he'd do when she saw him.

If she wasn't sitting in Juvie.

Oh god.

She wrapped her arms around herself and clutched at her sleeves till her knuckles were white.

_Stupid stupid stupid!_

She should have been paying more attention. Especially when she was lifting, she _knew better_ than to let her mind wander. And he caught her pocketing a knife too. That would look absolutely fantastic to the authorities, for sure.

The man had snuck up on her right side and made a grab for her. Jodi had panicked like a wild thing, flailing and twisting in a desperate attempt to get away. At some point a stray elbow had connected with the man's face resulting in a bloody nose. It was a complete accident of course, but that wouldn't look good either.

She was so screwed.

Bells chimed at the front of the store, and Jodi's head shot up. The clerk quickly ended his call and hustled out to the main floor and out of sight. "Fifteen minutes my ass," he grumbled, then louder. "Officer! Good to see you my friend!"

"What seems to be the problem here?"

What little hope she had died in that instant. The voice wasn't deep enough to be Barricade.

"I caught this little slip of a girl pocketing the merchandise, and she tried to make a run for it. Ruffian damn near broke my nose!"

"I can see that."

The two men stepped into view, the clerk looking far too pleased. The police officer stepped forward, seemingly taking in the situation. He was young for a cop, with a clean face and dark glasses hiding his eyes. His posture suggested we was the local hotshot rookie.

He seemed to study her. "What's your name kid?"

Her heart thudded in her chest, and she bit he lip to keep silent. _Don't talk,_ she told herself fiercely. _If they know who you are they'll send you back. Don't talk, don't talk . . . ._

She physically turned away, refusing to answer.

"Right." He leaned back. "Okay. We can play like that. What did she take?"

The clerk hurried forward to present him with a cheap folding pocket knife. "I caught her red-handed with this, but who knows what else she got her grubby little hands on."

"Any security cameras to support your claim?"

"Sure do! Here, let me show you." The clerk happily ushered the cop into his office and moved out of sight.

 _Cameras? Oh fuck,_ why _didn't I think of that?_

This wasn't good. Jodi's heart pounded harder behind her ribs, and she could hear the blood rushing in her ears. Her thoughts were running laps around her head, making it near impossible to think clearly.

_Don't talk, don't talk, don't talk . . . what the Hell am I gonna do now?_

She looked up some minutes later to the rattle of keys and the creak of the cage door opening. The cop strode in, an unreadable look on his face. Jodi was suddenly bothered by the fact that his eyes lay hidden where she couldn't see them.

He leaned over and grabbed her arms, roughly manhandling her to her feet.

"Alright missy, let's go."

Metal snapped around her wrists, the reality of cuffs driving her situation home.

Her whole body came alive, struggling against him. "NO! Let me go! I'm not going anywhere with you!"

"She speaks," he drawled sarcastically. His hand engulfed her bicep, forcibly tugging her along. "C'mon now. I'm sure your parents will want to know what you've been up to." He turned back to the clerk who looked delighted to see her in cuffs. "Sir, I'll be right back to take your statement. Thank you for your patience."

The man grinned. "Hey, no problem! Anything I can do to help the community."

She fought the officer's iron grip all the way out the door. He dragged her right along like she was made of air. A small crowd of people had gathered to watch her get taken away, curious eyes watching the officer handle the feral little homeless girl. She refused to scream again, but she twisted and writhed, trying to delay the inevitable.

All the fight left her as they rounded the corner.

She gaped.

"Not. A. _Word_." the cop hissed quietly, his voice now a familiar baritone.

He lead her up to the interceptor, opened the door for her and all but threw her in the waiting passenger seat. The cuffs crackled and disappeared the instant he slammed the door behind her.

Jodi hunkered down into her seat, making herself look as small as possible.

With a wary eye she watched as the hologram she now recognized as Barricade stalked to the other side of the car. Jodi flinched at the force used to slam his own door. The engine came to life and not a moment later they were pulling out of his current parking space, and were back on the street.

A block down the road Jodi sunk even lower as they passed a real cop car going the opposite direction. She had no doubt where he was heading.

Barricade visibly simmered for several minutes before letting loose a frustrated sigh. "I should make you a comm unit," he muttered irritably.

She bit her lip and waited for him to continue.

It took her several long moments to realize he wasn't going to.

"That's is?" Jodi squeaked, finding her voice. "No yelling? No scolding, no lecture on the error of my ways and how stupid it was to steal?"

She jumped as his sudden bark of laughter. "A Decepticon lecturing a human about morals? That's rich. You were stupid for getting _caught_!"

"Sorry." Jodi picked at her sleeve, unsure of herself even now that the tension was broken. She really didn't know how to act around this side of her companion. "Didn't know you were gonna change your Holoform today. You scared the shit out of me. I thought I was really getting taken in."

Barricade gave a low chuckle and flashed her a grin, eyes glinting red over the sunglasses. "Human faces are so expressive, I wish I had recorded your reaction. Absolutely priceless."

Her worry evaporated leaving nothing but irritation. "You're an asshole."

"Now you're getting it."


	9. Chapter 9

Jodi held the small padlock up to her ear, listening intently as she worked it’s internals with two pieces of bent wire.

They had stopped early today and had taken refuge in an old parking garage where it was relatively warm and well lit. Barricade had driven himself up onto two parking blocks so he could fit his bulky Holoform under his frame to continue his repairs. He quickly brushed off her offer of assistance and told her to practice her lockwork.

In the wake of her botched attempt at thievery two things happened. First, Barricade had been true to his word and had taken her stolen (and long forgotten) Blackberry and had modified it to what he called a comm unit. It was nice being able to talk to him while she made her rounds while he did . . . well whatever it was that he did when they split up. Not that he ever said a whole lot, but he didn’t ignore her either.           

And second Barricade had deemed it necessary to teach her any and every skill that he thought would be useful. “If the only resource you have is yourself then you better damn well know what you’re doing.”

The first skill on his list had seemed pretty simple. Driving. At first she had protested that she was underage. He quickly countered that one by reminding her of just how many illegal things she had done since he met her. On her own volition no less.

She picked up the basics quickly enough, though she concluded that shifting was a pain in the ass until you got the hang of it. Having a car that could actually drive itself was incredibly useful, not only for preventing potential accidents, but also in teaching her feel and timing.

However, as useful as the skill was it soon became obvious that she wouldn’t be driving often. The vision loss in her right eye gave her very poor depth perception, not to mention blind spots.

Every improvised lesson exposed her to more of Barricade’s forceful personality. At first she would cringe whenever he scolded her for her mistakes or when he barked out directions. She tried reminding herself that he wasn’t her uncle, and the new Holoform certainly helped, but the reaction was so conditioned she didn’t know how else to respond. He wasn’t going to hurt her. She knew that by now, but it was a hard habit to break.

He never asked why she acted the way she did. It was almost an unwritten rule now. He didn’t ask why she reacted the way she did and she didn’t ask about his war.

At one point he got so frustrated with her automatic reactions that he screeched to a halt alongside an abandoned country road.

His Holo turned to give her a rather exasperated look. “If you feel intimidated don’t just sit there and cower like a frightened glitchmouse. If someone is belittling you get _angry_. Retaliate if you can, and if you can’t then adapt to the situation. Play to your abilities and find your opening. Where is that enraged creature I saw back when we first met? You could benefit from her strength.”

During the following lessons Jodi made a conscious effort to try to act more confident than she felt. The first time she bit back a sarcastic retort to his criticism, _intentionally_ , she felt like she was going to shake apart. He just paused and gave her a barely perceptible smirk.

Since then Barricade had expanded a bit on her electric skills and taught her the basics of hotwiring, and now had moved her on to lock picking

Testing herself became comforting in its own way, especially as they settled further into their routine of travelling; lessons and repairs. With every passing day Barricade would push her further out of her shell, and every day Jodi became more comfortable in his presence with and without the Holoform.

With the beginning of December not long past, Jodi realized that they had been on the road for over a month now.

Had it been that long?

Jodi was brought back to the present by the tell-tale snick of the lock finally giving way.

A triumphant grin lit her face as she tossed the conquered lock into the little pile next to her. Satisfied, she reached for the next one only to come up empty handed. The teen blinked for a moment before realizing that she had already gone through all the locks that Barricade had given her.

Jodi stretched her right arm up and rapped her knuckles sharply on the wheel well behind her. “Hey ‘Cade! I’m finished!”

A faint noncommittal noise somewhere beneath the vehicle was her only answer.

Curious she twisted to peer around his front tire. She saw him pull his arm back from a cramped section of his undercarriage, looking a little more frustrated than normal.

“Uh . . . need help?”

He glared intently at his own body then gave a low sigh. “Come here.”

She scurried under Barricade and wiggled up beside his Holo. He handed her a flashlight. He phased his hand up through several thick lines to point to what looked like a gearbox on steroids.

“See this?” He pointed to two sections that had shifted noticeably out of place.

“Yeah.”

“I need you to reach in there and hammer it back into place.”

Jodi gave him an odd look. “Your Holo is stronger than me. Why can’t you do it?”

Barricade removed his arm, consolidated it and then moved to squeeze it back up between the lines. It was quickly obvious that the space was too narrow for him to fit. “Any more stupid questions?”

“Just asking! Jeez.” She poked his shoulder. “Move over.”

He scooted to the side to give her more room and wordlessly gave her a small mallet.

Now all business, Jodi placed the flashlight between her teeth and shifted into a better position. Without hesitation she wormed her thin arm up into the small space and lined up her shot. On the fourth swing the part gave, letting loose a screech as it popped back into its proper place.

She felt Barricade lurch around her before stilling.

Something froze in her throat as she removed the flashlight from her mouth. “What happened?” She turned to repeat the question to his Holo but the words died on her lips.

He was gone.

“Barricade?”  She crawled out from under the car and pounded the palm of her hand against the door, hoping to get a reaction. “Jerk! This isn’t funny! ‘Cade!”

Nothing.

Jodi felt the sting of tears and didn’t even bother to wipe them away.

She was alone.

 

 

Pain echoed through his systems as he came online. It was familiar and consistent and it thrummed through him like a spark pulse.

Like usual, a swarm errors pinged at him though they were far fewer in number than a few weeks ago. Small comfort, but at least it was some sign of improvement.

He’d take what he could get.

Through the pain and the system errors his processor searched for the physical contact that had been there every time he woke. He felt a familiar weight in his passenger seat and identified Jodi before his visuals even came online.

And sure enough there was his human curled up on the seat. One knee was bent up to her chest, with her arms wrapped tightly around it. Her other leg was stretched out to the floorboard, the heel of her sneaker tapping nervously. Her head was resting against his window, mismatched eyes staring into nothing.

He saw the telltale sign of tears, but thankfully they seemed to have past.

Remembering what they had been doing, he ran a quick diagnostic and was relieved to see that his transformation sequence was now operational.

_Thank Primus._

He had been concerned that there was more damage than what he originally knew about. Not that he wanted to transform anytime soon, but it was reassuring to know the option was there if needed.

He hadn’t expected the stabbing pain that shot through his frame, rendering him unconscious. According to his systems he had been out for nearly thirty minutes.

He activated his Holoform.

Jodi’s foot fell silent as her whole body seemed to snap to attention. “Barricade . . . I – I thought . . .” her voice trembled with unmistakable relief. It didn’t take a genius to determine where her line of thinking had gone.

“You should know by now that you can’t get rid of me that easily.” His tone was light, and he waited to gauge her reaction.

He wasn’t expecting her to launch herself at him.

Barricade braced himself for the attack, but quickly halted his retaliation when all she did was wrap her arms around his neck and bury her face into his chest. She began to tremble and he hoped to Primus that she wasn’t crying again.

He sat there, stock still and completely unsure of what she wanted him to do.

Luckily her body soon stilled, even though there was no sign of her letting go. Her grip tightened a fraction and he heard her mumble something incoherent under her breath.

“Jodi?”

“I can’t do it again.” Her voice was low and harsh, like she couldn’t breathe properly. “Twice was too much, I can’t do it again. I can’t, _I can’t_!” She trailed off then and fell silent.

He didn’t know how to respond.

They sat there for a few minutes more before Jodi finally pulled away and crawled back into her normal seat.

The silence reigned.

He felt that he should have said something, but was at a loss. What could he possibly say anyway?

It was several long minutes before Jodi spoke again, voice quiet. “Can we leave now? I don’t want to be here anymore.”

She had that look again. She sat there in his seat, looking lost and broken, and refusing to look at him. And in that moment he was reminded how young this little human really was and how little he knew about her.

He almost asked her what she was so afraid of, what drove her into being such a timid creature when she so obviously had fire in her veins. Almost demanded to know what she was running from.

Almost.

“Yes”, he answered her finally, deciding to let it go. “Yes, we can leave.”

He dismissed his curiosity with the ease of a millennia’s worth of practice.

What did it matter to him anyway? Decepticons were not supposed to care.

With that thought firmly in his processor, Barricade pulled out of the garage and into the surrounding city.


	10. Chapter 10

_Jodi wished it would rain._

_That’s how it always was in the movies. When someone important dies, the mourners stand huddled under black umbrellas and cry while water pours down from the heavens._

_But it was late May in California and even at ten in the morning it was already warm. The sun was bright and hot and there wasn’t even a cloud to be seen. Jodi gripped her mother’s hand tighter, trying to ignore how uncomfortable her dress was, and pretend that the sting in her eyes wasn’t from tears._

_She wished it would rain._

_There wasn’t a lot of people in attendance. Friends mostly, and a few men Jodi recognized from her father’s garage. At the end of the ceremony they all came up to her mother as they left. A lot of them shook her mother’s hand, and a few patted her shoulder. All of them repeated different variations of the same words before making their way back to their vehicles._

_Jodi quickly came to hate the recycled phrases._

“I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“Your husband was a good man.”

“He will be missed.”

_She didn’t understand._

_She wished someone would actually_ say _something. Anything. Anything real that would explain it to her._

_Anything that would tell her why it happened._

_He had taken her to school that morning. She had been upset about sleeping through her alarm. He pulled up beside the office building in his old Chevy pickup, telling her teasingly not to fall asleep in class. She rolled her eyes and scowled at him in a way that always had him laughing at her as she slammed the passenger door._

_“I’ll see you at home Princess!” he had called to her retreating back._

_Five hours later, the principal came and collected her personally._

_She wished that she told him she loved him, or given him a hug before getting out of that stupid truck._

_She didn’t even tell him goodbye._

_Aneurism the doctor had told them. Then he gave her mother a strange look when she immediately demanded an autopsy.“That was a lovely little ceremony Erica.”_

_Her mother’s grip tightened painfully, Jodi turned to see Uncle David walking across the cemetery as the last of the mourners left. Her mother stared at him coldly. “I told you not to bother coming.”_

_“So harsh.” He stopped in front of the fresh tombstone. “I can’t say my last goodbyes to my own brother?” There he paused to examine the etched words on the marble._

_Jodi followed his eyes and reread the words for the hundredth time._

Nickolas Hunter

            Devoted Husband, Loving Father

            Fierce Protector

_Her mother was shaking in a way she had never seen before. “David, leave now or God help me I-“_

_“Or you’ll what?”_

_She fell silent, but her eyes held anger and something else Jodi couldn’t name._

_“I thought so.” Uncle David laughed, then help up his hands in a placating gesture. “Alright, I’ll leave.”_

_He stepped up to them and laid a heavy hand on her mother’s shoulder, and then leaned in close. “But who will protect you now Erica?” he whispered in her mother’s ear, almost too low for her to hear._

_Jodi felt something tighten in her chest._

_Aneurism, the doctor had said._

_But the autopsy results came back inconclusive._

 

 

She didn't like this city.

Most of the buildings were old and faded, casting dark shadows in narrow alley ways. Graffiti was everywhere. It marred most street corners, lamp posts, signs, hell even a fire hydrant. Even with a layer of fresh snow lining the pavement, the streets still felt ugly and grimy. It was the kind of city where you avoided traveling alone, and if you couldn’t you made it a point to keep your head down and hurry along.

Unfortunately she made most of these observations _after_ insisting Barricade drop her off at a small laundromat she spotted.

She was sick and tired of smelling the dirt and sweat that had accumulated on her clothes. It wasn’t like she had ready access to a washer and dryer, but even a self-made street rat like her had her limits.

And Barricade may or may not have insinuated that she smelled.

It wasn’t like she had a lot of clothes to begin with, so clean clothes had become a bit of a luxury.

So she had Barricade drop her off, saying that she would be a while. He told her to comm him when she was finished and promptly disappeared further into the city.

 Jodi utilized the laundromat’s tiny restroom, quickly changing into a new pair of jeans (freshly lifted two days prior) and a beat up black turtleneck that someone had accidentally left outside a coffee shop. Her jacket, hoodie, gloves and jeans were quickly thrown into the first open washing machine.

A few of the more regular patrons eyed her curiously, but she made it a point to ignore everyone while she waited. She claimed a seat by the front window and watched the people go by outside.

It didn’t take her long to realize that most of the people she saw traveled in pairs.

The fact that she was alone suddenly made her nervous.

As soon as they were finished Jodi pulled on her warmer jacket and tucked the rest into her backpack.

She stepped outside and pulled out the Blackberry. As always Barricade was quick to answer. “Yes?”

“I’m all done over here. I-” she spotted three guys several stores down. She didn’t like the way one was eying her. “I think a quick pick up would be good.”

“En route now, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

The line disconnected on his end.

Jodi pocketed the phone and slung her backpack over her shoulder.

The guy elbowed his two friends, and nodded in her direction.

_Fantastic. Come on ‘Cade, move your ass . . ._

Jodi moved over to sit at bus stop where she would be more visible to passing traffic, and clutched her bag tighter. She tried to calm her nerves as the trio closed in and settled around her. All three were in their early twenties, wore similar clothes and moved with an arrogant swagger.

One flopped down next to her and gave a toothy grin.

“Haven’t seen you ‘round here sweetheart. New in town?”

“Just passing through.” She replied stiffly, trying to huddle down in her oversized jacket.

One of the other’s tsked. “Now, don’ be like that! Here you are, all by yourself, lookin’ all lonely. We’re just tryin’ ta be friendly.”

“Well I’d rather you didn’t,” she barked. She tried to use the tone she used when sniping back at Barricade, but the tone wasn’t as firm as she would like.

“Well look at you, trying to be all feisty.” The guy next to her made his hands into claws and made a hissing noise.

“I think we should show her how we do things ‘round here.”

“Yeah, what ya think babe? We’ll show ya the local sights, all the best places to party . . .”

“It’ll be fun.” The one next to her had flung an arm along the backrest, and she felt a slight tug as he played with a lock of her dark hair.

Jodi leapt to her feet, her stomach suddenly in knots.

They laughed at her clear discomfort. “So jumpy!”

She tried to dart back to the laundromat, but was grabbed by the back of her jacket. “Hey now, we weren’t done talkin’ to you!”

Even as the fear settled in her chest, Jodi was quick to react. She immediately released her backpack to free up her arm and dropped to her knees. Her slight frame slipped right out of the large coat and as soon as she was free she sprinted forward.

One of them managed to grab her by the arm, spinning her around and tossing her into a narrow alley. Her back slammed into a brick wall, knocking the wind out of her.

“Bitch is quick!”

“Grab her man before she bolts again!”

“I got her!”

One of them grabbed her arm and shoved her back up against the wall. When his other hand clamped over her mouth she didn’t think twice about biting the palm.

Her cheek throbbed with the force he used to slap her.

“What's going on here?” Came a familiar booming voice.

_Oh, thank God!_

“Shit, it’s a cop,” one of them hissed.

The one holding onto her arm leaned back a bit to look over his shoulder, revealing Barricade's Holoform standing at the corner.

“Get lost man, this lil' chat don't concern you.”

“If it involves her it does.” His voice was low now, and Jodi noted the sharp edge there. A warning.

“Wha' she your sister or somethin'?” he looked between the two of them. “’Cause I don't see the resemblance.”

The one who touched her hair chuckled. “Guys check it out. This guy ain't a local cop.” He pointed at Barricade's uniform. “I think we’re a little outta your jurisdiction. Take a wrong turn somewhere? Or are you just stupid?”

“’Cade, get these creeps _off of me!_ ”

His eyes flicked to her before leveling a cold stare at the trio surrounding her. He moved towards them, the strides strong and calculated, as his eyes burned into his opponents.

One of them charged, lunging at Barricade with an awkward punch. The Holo dodged effortlessly, grabbing the offending arm as it blazed past. In a blink the guy was face down in the snow, screaming as his shoulder was dislocated.

Jodi caught a flash of silver and the snick of unfolding metal as one of them made use of Barricade's turned back. She screamed as the knife sunk up to the hilt right below his ribcage. The punk twisted the blade and wrenched it out sideways.

A human would have had a gash large enough to put a hand inside.

Luckily Barricade was something far from human.

The one still holding her noticed first. “Dude, _dude._ He ain't bleedin'!”

The guy with the blade had the sense to look worried. “What kinda shit you high on man?”

Barricade gave a feral grin. “So you like to play with knives?”

He moved in a flash. Within a blink of an eye he had his attacker pinned up against the wall by his throat, and had confiscated the knife. The poor bastard clawed at his throat, trying desperately to loosen the vice-like grip around his neck.

“Let's play.”

Barricade plunged the blade into his stomach, then drew it horizontally.

Jodi could only stare in horror.

He had eviscerated the man with his own knife.

“Jesus _Christ!”_

“Shit!”           

Barricade cast the body aside like a broken toy. Intestines strung out in it's wake like a ribbon following a dancer.

Jodi thought she was gonna be sick.

Then he turned a fierce gaze on the remaining men. The one with the dislocated shoulder scrambled to his feet and ran, tripping over himself in his panic.

It was then Jodi realized something sharp was being held to her neck and the grip on her arm had tightened. “Don't come near me man!”

Barricade paused, bloody knife still in hand. Then he grinned. “Think very carefully fleshbag. You make her bleed and you will learn how much pain I can inflict before your pathetic organic body gives out. How much do you want to join your friend?”

_Oh my God, please, please, don't do it . . . ._

The knife wavered for a second. Then Jodi was shoved forward so hard she stumbled and fell to her knees.

She stared at the snow laid out before her, watching it change colors as more blood seeped into it.

_He’s really dead. Barricade killed him._

There was a soft touch against her shoulder. “Jodi.”

Mismatched green eyes traveled from the blood to the body, watching morbidly as steam lightly curled up from the fresh corpse.

“Jodi.”

A hand lifted her chin, forcing her to meet bright red eyes.

Had they always been the color of blood?

“Are you injured?”

It took her a second to process the question, and several more to answer. “No.”

His hand lowered to wrap around her shoulders, lifting her up and forcibly steering her from the scene. “Come on then, before the local law enforcement arrives.”

He led her back to the car in a daze, barely noticing the door closing behind her, or the engine as it came to life.

Jodi felt her heart hammering in her chest, her mind slowly building itself into a panic.

_He killed him. Oh my God, ‘Cade killed him!_

Barricade killed a human. A violent creep to be sure, but human all the same.

She knew he had a temper. She knew it, _she knew it!_ But she never thought . . . _especially_ not because of _her . . ._

“You killed him.”

She didn’t realize she had said that aloud until he replied coldly. “He was a threat. I neutralized it.”

Jodi gaped. “You _neutralized_ it? You-” she stopped there, not knowing what to say, she could hardly compute.

Sharp eyes turned on her, studying her.

“You knew I was a soldier,” he reminded her, his tone frosty. “Don’t act so shocked.”

“That wasn’t combat. That wasn’t even a _fight_! That was slaughter!”

Barricade looked truly agitated now. “They had you surrounded. He pulled a concealed weapon and attacked from behind. That particular attack was a deliberate attempt to make the wound painful and messy. Most likely fatal. Luckily it was directed at me. What do you think it would have done to you?”

She fell silent, not wanting to think about it. If Barricade hadn’t shown up . . .

Jodi thought about being left for dead in that ally before her mind supplied an image of being executed in the same brutal manner as that poor bastard and she shuddered.

 _He protected me._ _He killed someone to_ protect _me._ This was a whole new brand of violence to her and was terrifying on a whole new level.

“I don’t really know you do I?” The words were barely a whisper as the realization struck her.

“Are you afraid?”

 _Yes,_ she answered. But the word refused to leave her lips.

Barricade slowly pulled himself over to the side of the road.

His Holoform visibly brooded, muttering something she couldn't understand as his hands wrung his own steering wheel. With a frustrated growl, he turned in his seat and reached over towards her.

He froze when she shrunk away.

He ground his teeth. “I'm not going to hurt you.”

She eyed him warily as he slowly made to grab her left hand and pulled it towards him. Holding it palm up he used his free hand to slide her sleeve up to her elbow. Jodi looked down to see the shiny pink scar left behind from her chemical burn.

He had never asked her about it. Jodi had just assumed that he didn't know, or simply didn't care so long as she was able to work on repairs.

“Even before I was fully online you have assisted me, to the point of damaging yourself in the process.” His eyes met hers, and she noticed the last of his rage seemed to leave him. In it's wake was a strange determination. “No harm will come to you if I can prevent it.”

She just sat there in his passenger seat, and squeezed the hand holding her's, his words replaying over and over. _No harm will come to you . . ._

She wanted to cling to it like a promise. Wanted to believe he would hold true to his word.

 _“He won't let anything happen to us,”_ her mother's voice echoed in her mind, a painful reminder of the past, of her last protector. _“We'll be fine. I_ promise _.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgive the slightly funky formatting on this chapter. A bit too lazy to fix it.


	11. Chapter 11

Bright blue eyes scanned the area calmly, eying the filth and disrepair of this part of the city. A passerby across the street slowed to stare at the gleaming new car that stood out so painfully in such a run down neighborhood.

A sharp glare with narrowed eyes sent him hurrying on his way. 

With an annoyed sigh he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the hood of the black Dodge Charger. The car sank a bit lower on it’s shocks.

Considering how . . . high maintenance this woman supposedly was it was difficult to reason out why she would live in such a place when she could easily afford better accommodations. His partner wasn't very clear on explaining it either.

Then again most humans seemed to have difficulty explaining their parental units.

“Well that's just fucking _typical_!”

He turned to acknowledge the auburn haired man stalking back to the car, clearly agitated with a piece of lined paper crushed in his fist.  The lithe form stormed right past him to the passenger side.

He winced a little at the slammed door that followed.

He opened his own door and took his seat in a much calmer fashion. “Was she not at home then?”

Pale fingers deftly caught the crumpled note as it was chucked at his face. Silently he smoothed the paper out and read the looping script.

 

            _Riley,_

 _Sorry to miss you honey! I can't believe I completely forgot about my trip to Las Vegas with Susan and Miss Margaret, can you believe that? You_ _remember Miss Margaret don't you? She asks about you all the time (you ARE still single right?) you really should give her a call! I'd say call me when you get this but my phone broke. Amazing how flimsy these gadgets are nowadays. Anyway, I better run. Susan is knocking at the door and our flight leaves in an hour._

_Love Always!_

_Mom_

_P.S. I STILL expect to see you before your vacation is over! AND your new partner. We'll do dinner._

 

He offered the letter back with a confused frown. “Didn't you just talk to her yesterday?”

Riley snatched up the note and proceeded to crush it into a tiny paper ball. “Yeah. The woman's like the fucking wind, going wherever her scattered brain takes her. I don't even know why I'm surprised! She's always pulled shit like this when I was growing up, it's not like it's anything new.” He paused then to take a deep breath and sink back against the leather seat. He scrubbed a hand against his cropped hair. “Well. Now that we know this little road trip was a complete waste of time and energy, what do we want to do now? The only other family I have is in my Aunt in Boston and my cousin in California. Both are busy until after the holidays.”

“I suppose a trip to the base would be out of the question.”

Riley laughed. “After that brilliant argument you and Mr. Cranky had last time? Prowl, I know he's your medic and all, but Ratchet scares the hell out of me. If it's all the same to you, I'd prefer to give the guy a healthy amount of space between us.”

Prowl conceded on that point. Ratchet had been . . . displeased with the injuries he had sustained before landfall, along with the quality of his field repairs. And then Riley had let slip exactly how long he had been on Earth before making contact.

The resulting argument had been nothing short of spectacular.

“I don’t believe you’re in a position to talk. I distinctly remember you doing something similar with Chief Brockman.”

Dark eyes shot him a halfhearted glare. “Don’t _even_ go there. You had a hand in that one too. Half the department thought I had gone off the deep end not too long ago. I blame our forced vacation on you.”

Prowl made to reply when he felt a brush at the edge of his sensors.  Familiar.

Impossible.

 _Improbable,_ his processor corrected.

The signal pulsed softly and suddenly it became a faint but stable energy reading. Confirming his suspicion without a doubt.

Anger burned through his systems, old injuries long healed throbbed, reminding him of the pain.

The _betrayal._

He had been told that he was on Earth, that he had played a role in making a play for the Allspark. But there had not been any sightings of him since Mission city, and there was a rumor circulating among the Autobot’s that he had been deactivated. He disregarded that rumor the instant it reached his audios.

The reading began to fade, but not before getting a set of coordinates. It was close.

Tires squealed as Prowl charged after the signal as if possessed. His human companion scrambled for his seat belt as they were suddenly launched into motion.

“Where's the fire?”

Having heard the phrase before he managed a proper response. “We are investigating a signal.”

“We are huh?” he stared at the road they were speeding on then gave his partner a grin. “You _do_ know that Ratchet's gonna have your ass when he finds out how you're spending your leave right?”

“It would not be the first time we have had such a discussion.”

 

 

“Sweet Jesus,” Riley breathed. “Look at this mess.”

Prowl had a sinking feeling in his spark.

A whole crowd of people had gathered around the mouth of an alley. Two officers were trying to tell people to step back and move along while a third taped off the area.  Splashes of red could be seen between the crowd as well as an unmoving figure lying in the snow.

They were too late to do anything, and his target was obviously long gone.

They parked across the street. Riley got out to take a closer look while Prowl’s Holo stayed put, using his scanners to examine the scene.

Something was off.

The scene was what you would expect from a murder.  The body lay crumpled in a bed of snow. There were tracks and imprints indicating that there had been more than one person present, and he could almost feel the energy signature that still lingered on everything it had touched.

He ran a quick scan of the body itself and paused.

The neck was broken. If the disembowelment hadn't killed him first _that_ certainly had.

The kill was too clean. Brutal yes, as the blood and organs strewn about would attest to. But it had been quick.

It wasn’t like him.

His human companion returned with a slightly disgusted look on his face. “Sometimes I forget how fucked up people can be,” he murmured to himself, and then to Prowl. “I wasn't able to get much, but the gossip bouncing around over there is amazing. Supposedly there's an eye witness spouting that a cop did this to his friends.”

Riley pointed to a police cruiser where an officer was talking to someone who was sitting in the back seat. The person wasn't cuffed and seemed to be talking quite adamantly to the two officers standing just outside the open door.

There was a crackle over the radio and suddenly voices filled the cab.

The look Riley gave Prowl's Holo was flat. “Are you seriously hacking another cop's radio to eavesdrop?”

“Quiet,” he ordered, staring at the witness from his vantage point even as he listened in on the conversation. The man was young, early twenties easy, and sporting local gang colors. He was also near hysterics.

“-no I'm telln' YOU man! He. Didn't. Bleed! Sonava bitch acted like he didn't even _feel_ it! Guy shouldn't 've been able ta _move_ with what Marcos did ta him! Understand? Bastard threw 'm with one hand! Like – like-”

“Punk's a raving lunatic.”

Prowl gave Riley a look. The human lifted his hands and fell quiet.

“It's all her fault man, we shoulda left the bitch _alone-_ ”

“You didn't mention there was a woman there,” the interrogating cop pointed out. “Was she someone you know?”

“Hell no! Scrawny thing probably wasn't even outa high school.”

“And she just _happened_ to be there.”

 “We were just talking to her!”

“Right. Let's finish this little talk at the station.”

Prowl terminated the connection, now lost in thought.

“Well at least my mother picked a good time to skip town,” Riley commented, watching officers attempt to disperse the crowd that had gathered. “I'm sure I'll end up hearing about it when they get a lead on the perp.”

“They won't.”

“What makes you say that?”

“He's Cybertronian.”

Riley physically blanched. “You mean . . . Decepticon? Really? _Here_? I wouldn't think there would be anything around here that would interest them.”

“There isn't.”

“So why so worried? Maybe the 'Con was just passing through and was bored.  From what I heard a lot of them think of violence as a pastime. Maybe they thought it would go unnoticed by the Autobots.”

If it were any other circumstance he would be inclined to agree. But from the sound of it, the kill had been made over a human girl. Decepticons only helped one another when under direct orders or when it benefited them. And this particular mech had long since proven how cold sparked he could be.

Where was the benefit here?

He sent a message out to base.

“Prowl to Optimus.”

“Go ahead Prowl.”

“Sir, we have detected a Decepticon in our vicinity and have reason to believe that he is linked to a local homicide. I request immediate backup before investigating further.”

“The humans will not be pleased,” If a mech could sigh over a comm link, Prowl felt that Optimus would have right then. “I have faith in your judgment old friend.”

“Optimus . . . it's Barricade.”

He was one of a handful of mechs who would understand the full implications of that statement. The admission.

There was a brief silence over the comm line.

“I'll send you the closest available Autobot.”


	12. Chapter 12

Barricade began to sigh but caught himself mid exhale, irritated by the gesture.

The girl had backslid.

She hadn’t completely reverted but she was back to being startled every time he moved too quickly. She was nervous, jumpy, and was much quieter than she had been with him in weeks.

He observed the small human now sitting cross-legged on his hood, distant eyes staring at the clouds as the sun sank below the city skyline. Seemingly oblivious to being watched.

He wondered if she even noticed that she was shivering.

They had stopped only a few towns away. His tires burned with the need to put more distance between them and the mess he had left behind. They were too close for him to be comfortable, and the possibility of being tracked was a constant fear. They should be on the road.

But they weren’t.

He suffocated another sigh, this one born from frustration, before approaching Jodi. She stared up at him with those strange eyes, her brows narrowed in confusion. Her gaze then fell down to the thick grey plaid jacket he was offering her.

“Just take it,” Barricade grumbled before she could comment. “It's not like we can go back for the other one. And if you get sick it will only slow us down.”

Thankfully she didn't ask where he got it and just silently took it and pulled it over her tiny frame. Not bothering to zip up the material she just folded it closed and wrapped her arms around herself. Her body was lost in the excess fabric.

Jodi gave a small smile in his general direction. “Thanks.”

He didn’t acknowledge the gratitude. He turned and leaned back against the front of his alt mode, arms crossed over his chest. They sat in silence for several minutes before a soft laugh drew his attention back to the human.

Whatever he was going to say was suddenly lost.

She was smiling, one hand tugging lightly at her sleeve. The expression was more open than anything he had seen from her. The genuine nature of it was surprisingly . . . refreshing.

Her good eye caught him staring and her smile widened. “My Dad had a jacket just like this one,” she explained. “When I was in middle school I used to steal it all the time. It was way too big of course, and the other kids used to tease me because of it. But I didn’t care. I liked it ‘cause it smelled like him. Like grease and motor oil.”

He was surprised. He couldn’t recall her mentioning her family at all before now, and had more or less assumed that she had none. At least none that might be looking for her.

“You sound like you miss him.”

The smile faltered then and for a moment he almost wished he hadn’t said anything.

“I do miss him,” Jodi admitted quietly. She bit her lip and seemed to struggle with something. She opened her mouth several times as if to say something, but the words seemed to die on her tongue. When she finally spoke again her voice was barely a whisper.  “I . . . do you ever wish you could go back in time and . . . and take something back? Or fix something you never said?”

Her words briefly stirred his curiosity, but the question itself rang in his processor, bringing up dark memories to the surface.

His thoughts strayed back to Cybertron, back to the early days of the war. Back when the Enforcers officially shifted their allegiance to the Decepticons. Many of them had already long joined the ranks, even before the order came down. Any who opposed the change were to be deactivated.

 He recalled the weight of the blade in his hand, the resistance as he pushed it through another mech’s chassis.

Blue optics had burned into him, saying everything they needed to. Confusion. Hurt. Pure _betrayal_.  

Actions always held more weight than pretty words. Even if he had turned back right then, no amount of apologies would undo what he had done. Along with thousands of other crimes he willingly committed along the way.

But he made his choices long ago and was too stubborn to start offering apologies now. There was no going back.

However nothing else haunted him like that one betrayal. If it was possible, did he wish he could take it back?

“Every day.”

 

 

In the middle of a quiet urban neighborhood a lone police cruiser could be found roaming the cheerily lit streets. Night had fallen hours ago, but the darkness almost seemed held at bay.

_Humans are strange creatures,_ Barricade silently mused.

Around the same time last year he noticed the same pattern. The closer it got to the end of December the more green and red appeared on store fronts and billboards. Houses would be decked top to bottom with garish lights and repeated representations of a fat man in red and a team of antlered quadrupeds.

Jodi had tried to explain that it was one of the largest holidays of the year and that many jumped at the chance to go overboard with decorations. There was more to it of course, but she didn’t seem comfortable going more in depth in her explanation.

Either that or she honestly didn’t know.

Speaking of the human . . .

Barricade glanced over at his companion and found her dozing lightly with her head resting against the window.

Normally they would find someplace to stop for the night, but he was still too restless and wasn’t comfortable with the idea of staying in one spot for more than thirty minutes at a time. Instead they were slowly weaving their way to the outskirts of the city so in the morning they would have ready access to the interstate. They would make up the lost distance tomorrow.

Jodi shifted a bit and huddled further into her oversized jacket.

Barricade resisted the smile he felt tugging at his Holoform’s lips.

After their talk earlier that evening, Jodi had seemed a little more at ease. She was still a little edgy, but had settled enough for bits of her normal self to shine through. Considering the last twenty four hours, he was rather surprised.

As small as she was, she seemed to be rather resilient.

He heard the roar of a powerful engine right before his close range sensors screeched their warning. Tires squealed and the monstrous black truck barreled around the corner behind them.

Barricade swerved just in time to avoid being rear ended, then slammed his brakes letting the truck blaze past.

Jodi shrieked at the sudden maneuver, clutching at his seat as she was thrown forward and into awareness. “What the Hell was that for?!” she barked, wide awake and clearly agitated.

“ _Damn it!_ ” he hissed, throwing himself in reverse. _Not now!_

The human snapped her head up. Her eyes grew wide as she saw the truck make an impossibly sharp u-turn and speed back at them.

Barricade spun around, tires squealing as he accelerated.

He needed room to maneuver. He couldn’t transform with a passenger, and even _if_ he was in full health he would think twice about facing the Autobot’s weapons specialist solo. It was safer to run if at all possible.

Luck was never on his side these days.

Jodi twisted in her seat, trying to get a better look at the monstrous truck on their tail. “Who the hell is that?!”

“Another of my kind,” he snarled, whipping them around a corner. The larger mech was keeping pace, forcing Barricade to rely on his agility to gain ground. “Fragging Autobots never know when to quit!”

“Autobots?” she echoed, and then something seemed to click in her mind. “I thought you said that your war was over!”

“As you can see some still hold a grudge!” he snapped. Now was _not_ the time for this conversation.

Once he felt he had enough distance Barricade zipped into a smaller side street and screeched to a halt on the corner. The passenger door swung open before he even stopped.

Jodi scrambled out of the car without being asked and turned wide frightened eyes on him.

“Hide yourself, be quiet and for Pit’s sake _stay out of the way_!”

He waited until she was clear before slamming his door. The smell of burnt rubber filled the frigid night air as he spun back towards the way they came, attempting to take the chase further into the city.

Ironhide cut him off before he could get very far.

With a familiar whir the large black Autobot transformed and in one fluid movement leveled one of his renowned cannons in his direction.

_Frag!_

He tried to dodge. A hiss escaped him as the shot grazed his still damaged side panels.

“Hold still ya coward!”

Barricade inwardly bristled at the older bot, and triggered his transformation sequence. He registered the pain that rippled over his limbs as he unfolded into his bipedal form for the first time in months. Parts that still weren’t properly aligned ground and scraped against one another. It was agony.

He focused on his opponent and readied himself for the next attack.

This was not a fight he would be able to win, not in his current condition, but he stubbornly stood hid ground. With nowhere left to run, he would fight.

 

 

Jodi felt like her heart was going to burst right through her ribcage. Her breath puffed out in short harsh gasps and she was amazed she could hear anything over the rush of blood pumping through her veins.

_So that’s him. That’s the_ real _him._

He had told her about his true form. Bitched about being stuck in an “inferior form” more times than she could remember. But it was something she had unintentionally stashed in the back of her mind and labeled as unimportant.

If she had held any doubt about what he really was, it now lay shattered in the wake of what she was seeing right before her eyes.

At Barricade’s sharp order she had darted for cover, but she had only gone as far as the line of parked cars before hunkering down and trying to see what was going on.

She had turned just in time to see the familiar form of the police interceptor fall apart and reshape itself and rise on newly formed legs.

Ice cold fear poured into her gut and gripped her whole body, paralyzing her.

Jodi could do nothing but stare as two aliens tried their best to tear each other to pieces.

It wasn’t until one of the big black Autobot’s shots went wide that she was thrown into action. A section of sidewalk exploded several yards away, and with a terrible squeal a streetlight toppled over like a felled tree. She scurried out of the way and ducked behind a small sand colored truck.

She huddled there for several long breaths, adrenaline suddenly humming through her system. She gathered her courage and peeked again at the fight.

Through her fear she actually _looked_ at the scene before her. The other Cybertronian was much larger than Barricade and seemed much more heavily armed. Barricade was fast, but even from here she could see the glimmer of pink fluid from several reopened lines.

His injuries were reopening.

Her breath caught in her throat, and Jodi suddenly realized just how outmatched her friend was.

“ _Stay out of the way_ ” he had told her.

But something was off. He had sounded desperate, not calm and arrogant like when he had come to her rescue just this morning.

_He thinks he’s gonna lose_.

Her good eye scanned her surroundings, searching for anything useful.

They fell on the tailgate beside her, and fixed themselves on the dark red letters declaring the vehicle a Sonoma.

Numb hands rifled through her pockets and produced her Blackberry and a few pieces of carefully folded wire.

_“If the only resource you have is yourself,”_ her memory reminded her, _“then you better damn well know what you're doing.”_

Her eyes flitted back to the truck and within the next breath she was working on the passenger side door. The lock soon gave and she scrambled inside the cabin, shutting the door behind her. Jodi’s brain ticked off the seconds, fueling her urgency. Tiny fingers scoured the cluttered interior, shoving aside clothes and notepads, searching desperately for the tools she needed to make this work. A flathead screwdriver was found half buried under the driver’s side floor mat, and a small folding knife was stashed in the glove box under registration paperwork.

Without hesitation Jodi jammed the screwdriver into the ignition to disengage the lock then twisted her small frame under the steering column. She felt around for the screws that held the cover together. A grin spread across her face.

They were already missing.

Her fingers dug into the seams and wrenched the cover right off. Using the flashlight feature on her modified Blackberry to see what she was doing, Jodi flicked open the knife and made short work of the wires.

She wished briefly that she had her wire strippers, but those were long gone with her backpack.

“C’mon,” she whispered. “ _Come on!_ ”

She touched the ignition wires together and prayed.

The little truck whirred to life.

“YES!”

Heart pumping and her adrenaline on high she scurried into the driver’s seat, threw the shifter into drive and smashed her foot on the gas pedal. The back tires spun in place on the icy road before finding traction and launching them forward. She whipped the truck around and locked her eyes on her target.

Barricade and his opponent had taken their brawl to the end of the street. The big black bot grappled with ‘Cade briefly before throwing him into a traffic light, oblivious to the approaching vehicle.

She tightened her grip on the wheel as she let the anger and fear wash through her.

Then she lined herself up and pressed the pedal down to the floorboard.

The little truck hummed and shook as they accelerated. At the last second, she yanked the steering wheel into a hard right. The truck fishtailed, knocking the Autobot’s leg out from under him, but careening the little Sonoma into an uncontrolled spin.

Jodi let loose a strangled yell.

And was silenced by the crash.

 


	13. Chapter 13

Barricade could do nothing but watch with horrified optics.

Watch as Ironhide went down as his leg was swept out from under him.

Watch as the stolen truck spun out of control on the icy road, helpless as it smashed sideways into a telephone pole. The crunch of metal was deafening.

In that moment, his spark seemed to freeze in it’s casing as he recognized the driver.

_Jodi._

The scrape of his opponent getting to his feet brought him back to the moment. Grabbing the twisted pole of the traffic light he had been thrown into, he lunged forward, holding the pole like a lance. With surprising accuracy, Barricade impaled him through a small gap he had put in the Autobot’s armor. The old warrior cursed at him as he was effectively pinned to the building behind him. He bent the excess upwards to make it more difficult to remove by himself.

Earth materials were generally weak and it wouldn’t hold him long.

Hopefully long enough.

With his enemy incapacitated and cursing his existence, he rushed over to the crumpled vehicle.

The truck was nearly folded in half, the body warped and contorted around the heavy wooden pole. The passenger side was demolished. Jodi was slumped over in the driver’s side, clearly unconscious. A dark liquid trickled down from her hairline, smearing over the slowly deflating airbag. Blood.

Barricade reactivated his Holoform and tried the door. He growled in frustration when it refused to budge even with his strength.

He didn’t have time for this!

Patience thin, he grabbed the top of the vehicle with his physical body and peeled the material back like a can of sardines. Once the opening was large enough his Holo jumped up onto the hood, reached into the cab and took hold of the girl’s arm.

His vents cycled with relief. Her pulse was strong and steady beneath his hand.

She groaned and shifted back against the headrest. Disoriented green eyes blinked up at him. “’Cade?”

He tapped her cheek lightly, trying to bring her attention more firmly on him. “Jodi, we have to leave. Can you move?”

She winced as her own hand brushed her hairline, but she nodded to his question. “Yeah, one sec.” With shaky limbs she tried to climb out of the cab, but in her current state she was slow and clumsy.

Reminding himself to hurry, he grabbed her around her upper arm and lifted her clear from the wreckage as his true self transformed back into his alt mode.

He was vaguely aware of Ironhide struggling against his pinion, yelling at him as he loaded the small human into his cab. They drove off into the night and did not look back.

 

 

Taillights disappeared around the corner, leaving behind destruction and the smell of burnt rubber.

Along with one very pissed off Autobot.

“DAMN IT!”

Ironhide lurched forward as the metal pole finally came free of his chassis. He threw it aside, not caring where it landed. A loud crash echoed somewhere to his right, most certainly adding to the ruined street.

Already he could hear the distant wail of sirens. The rational side of him urged him to get a move on before human law enforcement arrived.

Injured and in a foul temper, Ironhide transformed. Even as he beat a hasty retreat, his circuits were ablaze with his fury.

He got away.

The Decepticon bastard _got away_!

And to make matters worse the fragger had taken a young human hostage. Using her as insurance that Ironhide wouldn’t shoot him in the back, no doubt.

Prime was going to have his head for this one.           

When he engaged Barricade he hadn’t noticed anyone wandering about, but to be fair he hadn’t really been looking either. This time of night most humans were tucked away in their homes, fast asleep.

He hadn’t noticed the approaching vehicle either.

And now someone else was paying for his inattention.

Cursing the entire situation, he opened a comm line.

“Prowl, we have a problem.”

 

 

_That was close._

Barricade flew along the old two-lane highway, the road empty and endless before him. The night lingered on. It was pitch black and lonely and he hadn’t seen another car for miles.

It left him with entirely too much time to think about what had happened. His new injuries pulsed, adding another layer to the constant ache that had become his life. Many of the repairs that they had done were damaged, and some of the weaker welds had burst under the pressure. He was set back at least a month in repairs, but he was in surprisingly good condition.

He wondered how many had managed to escape Ironhide and be as well off as he was. The answer was well known and the thought of it unsettled him.

He was alive because of Jodi.

Memory of the crash drove a sharp spike of fear through him. For a brief moment he had thought the accident had been fatal. If the impact had been on the other side of the truck, it _would_ have been.

Fear gave way to irritation.

What possessed her to do such a _stupid_ thing? In a way, he was proud that she was able to utilize what he taught her while under pressure, but he hadn’t expected such recklessness. Not from the timid girl who only recently felt brave enough to yell at him.

At this rate, she would offline _herself_ before he could ever hope to satisfy the dept.

_That was way too close._

A small part of him snarled, reminding him that the whole situation could have been _avoided_. A _true_ Decepticon would have never put another’s safety before their own! They would have used her to their advantage early in the battle. Used her to exploit Autobot morals regarding innocent bystanders. 

Hadn’t that been his plan from the very beginning?

Conflicting emotions rolled through him.

Trying to keep his mind from that particular train of though for just a little bit longer, he looked over at the source of his confusion.

Jodi had been fighting off sleep for the past three hours, seemingly convinced that the Autobot would leap out at them from the darkness. Her foot was tapping incessantly against his floorboards, an action he now associated with stress. Her eyes were bloodshot and tired, but there was a bit of fire left in her gaze. She stubbornly refused to rest.

It reminded him of an instance in his own youth so very long ago, and it gave him an idea.

Jodi was so lost in her own personal battle, she didn’t notice when Barricade’s Holo disappeared and relocated. She let out a startled yelp as her seatbelt suddenly unclasped itself and firm hands dragged her into the back seat.

Ignoring her protest, Barricade stretched out and pulled her small frame back against his side. His arm draped over her shoulder and chest to hold her firmly in place. “Quiet,” he grumbled. “Your tapping is driving me insane. Now go to sleep.”

“Jerk,” she ground back, smacking the arm holding her then elbowing his seat.  “You scared me.”

“Your observation skills are still lacking.”

“Yeah, well, today has been Hell. Forgive me for being wired.” She sighed and seemed to sink into his shoulder as she finally relaxed in his seat. “I thought that creep had you.”

His eyes fell to the dried blood peeking out from under her hair. He shook the vision of her lying motionless in the ruined vehicle. “I’m accustomed to uneven odds, as well as close quarters combat.” Agitation bled into his voice. “That was a foolish thing you did.”

“I’m not gonna apologize.” Jodi’s voice was soft but firm. “I couldn’t just stand there while you-” She bit her lip. “I just couldn’t stand there.”

He didn’t know how to respond to that. So he didn’t.

Jodi settled further against him, and after several long minutes her breathing evened out and deepened. As she finally gave in to the pull of sleep, he sighed and slumped back against his own seat.

As he held her against him, he finally acknowledged the truth of it.

_I am getting too attached to the girl_.

And he hated himself for it.

There was a _reason_ he avoided making attachments. They were dangerous, could be used against you and no matter what anyone said they always ended. And they never ended _well._

But here he was.

His thoughts circled for what seemed like ages, debating what to do. They couldn’t run like this forever. He couldn’t protect her from everything, especially as damaged as he was. He wondered if Jodi even realized how extensive his injuries were.

He had been successful in avoiding contact with the Decepticons. It was best if they believed him to be dead. The last thing he needed was another close encounter with Starscream.

He doubted that he would be able to survive a second round with the screechy Seeker.

But now he had the Autobot’s full attention. It wouldn’t be long before the Decepticons caught wind of his survival. All eyes would be on him.

He couldn’t avoid both factions forever. Eventually one or the other would catch up to them.

Then Jodi would see him for the liar he really was.

Barricade’s spark constricted in it’s casing, and his Holoform held his human tightly, as if the surrounding night would steal her away.

  _I cannot protect her from myself._


	14. Chapter 14

_Jodi hated living in Palo Alto._

_More importantly, she hated her new school._

_The kids her age were spoiled and stuck up. Social status seemed to be everything, and the girls flaunted it with glittering accessories, expensive hairstyles, and makeup. Jodi came to know name-brands on sight, and became disgusted with herself for knowing the difference._

_Her parents never brought up the possibility of private school, and looking back, she thought she was better off for it. Everyone here was nosey, and you could never take anyone at face value. Rumors had a tendency to move faster than sound._

_On her very first day everyone already seemed to have an opinion of her before the final bell even rang. It didn’t help that these days, Jodi was easily irritated, and several students soon learned that the tiny new freshman wasn’t worth approaching._

_Jodi didn’t fall in with the petty games, and had little patience for those who did._

_She missed her old school._

_She missed being_ home _._

_Sharp pain shot through her chest._

_Home was long gone, laying six feet under along with her parents._

_Things had changed too much, too quickly. New town, new school, new rules. All she wanted was one thing, just_ one thing _, that was familiar._

_Jodi begged Uncle David to let her go back to a public school. But he was adamant in his decision, going on about how it would look for her to suddenly switch to a “lesser school”._

_The reasoning ignited her temper. She didn’t care how it would_ look _!_

_She had originally tip-toed around her uncle when she had been sent to live with him. She wasn’t sure how to act around him, and he made her nervous. Especially after her father’s funeral, back when her mother first started acting weird. So she had been careful how she acted around him._

_Until now._

_She was high on her anger and any caution she had left was thrown to the wind._

_They were in her uncle’s office on the second floor. Uncle David strode out from behind his desk, his normal collected expression at odds with the tension he moved with._

_He told her that their discussion was over._

_Jodi held her ground, green eyes glaring at him, and argued that they were not._

_She didn’t see the box cutter in his hand._

_Pain seared along the right side of her face. She doubled over as she yelled, hands clamping over her eye._

_He dragged her into the bathroom by her hair, knocking her to the cold tile floor. He pinned her and clamped a hand over her mouth to muffle her noise. She thrashed uselessly against him._

_She screamed into his palm as he poured hydrogen peroxide over the wound._

_Jodi could never remember how long he held her there, but when she finally wound down to silent tears, she recalled him leaning down to breathe into her ear._

_“You did this to yourself. Next time you look at me like that, you’ll find yourself in the same position as your father.”_

_His words rang in her ears._

_She never forgot them._

 

She woke late that morning to the sound of approaching sirens.

When she had finally drifted off Jodi had been wrapped tightly in Barricade’s arms. His Holo was surprisingly warm, and with his sharp eyes watching over her she felt safe enough to give into her exhaustion.

It took several long moments for her to realize that she was alone in the back seat, and that the wailing siren wasn’t coming from Barricade. Groggily, she sat up and peered out the rear window.

Her breath caught in her throat.

_What the hell did I miss?_

At some point, Barricade had taken them back on the Interstate, and was darting in and out of traffic. What little there was, anyway.

And now they had more than half a dozen cop cars hot on their tail.

_Real_ cop cars.

“Umm, Barricade?” She asked, her stomach suddenly in knots. She bit her lip and turned when she was given no answer.

Her tension grew when she spotted the Holoform sitting in the driver’s seat. He had obviously modified it while she had been sleeping. From the reflection in the rear view mirror, his face was the same, but the Police uniform was long gone, replaced by scuffed up jeans, and a loose dark hoodie. His eyes glowed like embers beneath the hood.

Her pulse quickened.

“What’s going on?” Jodi asked, trying, and failing, to keep her growing panic from her voice. “’Cade, what’s _happening_?” she pressed.

She was chilled by his silence. He didn’t even _look_ at her.

“Talk to me dammit!”

 They lurched forward. Jodi caught herself and whipped around.

One of the cruisers had rammed them from behind, clearly attempting a PIT maneuver.

_‘Cade is faster than this!_ She told herself, remembering his driving when the Autobot was after them.

She stilled with sudden suspicion.

_No_ , her heart argued. _No, he wouldn’t, he-_

They lurched again, and this time they swerved off the road. To anyone watching, it would simply look like the driver had lost control, and spun helplessly into the ditch that ran along the side of the road.

But Jodi knew better, and her blood ran cold.

As soon as they “crashed”, Jodi gaped openly as Barricade’s Holo stumbled out of the cab like a drunk and bolted from the scene, the door swinging shut behind him. The cops closed in around them, a few officers swiftly exited their cruisers and chased after him on foot. The rest cautiously made their way towards Barricade, one had a hand on his gun.

Jodi scrabbled into the front and tried the door, gasping when it wouldn’t budge.

“What are you doing? Get us outta here!” Jodi breathed, feeling the moisture gather behind her eyes. She pounded the dash, and then smashed her fist against the window. “Answer me! What did you _do!?_ BARRICADE!”

One of the officers spotted her in the cab, shouted something to the others and rushed over. He said something to her in a reassuring voice, re-holstered his sidearm and grabbed the door handle.

Betrayal washed through her as the door opened.

He outstretched a hand to her, coaxing. She scrabbled away from him, backing herself into the passenger side door. She nearly tumbled backwards as the door behind her was opened as well.

“No!” Jodi fought hard against the hands grabbing her, trying to gently pull her from the car. “Don’t take me away! Please don’t let them!”

But nothing stopped them.

_Traitor!_ Her mind screamed. Tears streamed unhindered down her face. “You don’t understand! ’Cade, _please!_ ”

She stopped fighting when she realized he wasn’t going to help her, not this time. She felt hollow with disbelief.

 This was a nightmare. She was dreaming and would wake any second. _Wake up, wake up, wake up!_

Someone had wrapped a blanket around her and had guided her to sit on the back of one of the police cruisers to wait for the paramedics to arrive. When they called her by name, she broke completely.

She stared at the battered black and white mustang, knowing without a doubt it would mysteriously vanish and the hijacker would never be found.

Words from only two days ago drifted across her memory, and suddenly her heart felt like it was caught in a vice.

_No harm will come to you if I can prevent it._

“Liar,” she whispered, choking on the word. She didn’t hear the officer’s asking her questions. Didn’t notice the paramedic arrive, checking her over. All of them were telling her that she would be alright.

Betrayal welled in her chest, heavy and constricting, and escaped with a gut-wrenching scream. “ _LIAR!”_


	15. Chapter 15

Riley paced the length of the cramped motel room irritably, cell phone held tentatively to his ear, and free hand running endlessly through his hair. The television was playing the morning news on low volume, providing background noise.

He was tired, exhausted really. They had been scrambling around all night in the wake of Ironhide’s report. And truth be told, he hadn’t really stopped to rest since before the murder scene in his Mother’s current city.

After nearly a full twenty-four hours with no sleep, Prowl was the one to pull the plug, stopping at the nearest motel and checking them in before Riley could protest.

The man would have been more grateful if his phone hadn’t gone off at six in the _fucking_ _morning_.

He spun on his heel and gestured wildly as he barked into the microphone. “I _know_ it’s Christmas, and we DID drop by! But you can’t expect-” There was a pause as someone cut him off on the other line. He snorted through his nose and grit his teeth. “Of course I do! But we . . . hey!”

Prowl had appeared by his side and plucked his partner’s phone right out of his hand. Simply ignoring Riley’s protest he spoke succinctly into the stolen device. “I apologize Mrs. Tanaka, but we have an urgent matter we must attend to.”

He pressed the End button and handed the phone back to a stunned Riley. His expression seemed to be caught between amusement and horror. “I can’t believe you just did that.”

“I’m truly sorry, but this cannot wait. We have to go. Now.”

Riley caught his jacket as it was tossed to him, shrugging into it hastily as he followed Prowl out the door. “This about the girl that Barricade guy nabbed?”

The Holoform nodded grimly. “Ironhide sent me a live feed of a news report little more than an hour ago. Anonymous tip off alerted Highway patrol of a stolen police cruiser, and claimed he saw the driver grab a teenage girl. Ironhide is already on his way, he’ll meet us there.”

“Wait, wait, you said someone _saw_ her get nabbed? But that’s-”

“It gets even more interesting. The truck the girl was driving when she encountered Ironhide belongs to a twenty five year old blonde woman. The police reports said that both the passenger door and the ignition were tampered with. The owner is reporting it stolen.”

His hand stilled on the passenger door, mind racing, making connections. “Are you telling me the girl jacked the truck?” Riley frowned at that. “Then her ramming into ‘Hide . . . no way in Hell that wasn’t deliberate.”

The more they dug on this one the weirder it got.

Riley gave a low whistle and climbed into the passenger seat. “Never a dull moment around you, Prowl.”

This was turning into one Hell of a vacation. Good thing he was never one to be still for long.

           

 

Jodi was stuck in a special sort of Hell.

By the time they had packed her into the back of a car she was done crying and her throat was sore from screaming. She had been hysterical for what felt like hours, releasing all the hurt and confusion, until she was hollow.

Now all she felt was numb.

_There has to be a reason he left,_ a small part of her still whispered, lost and clinging to one last hope. _He wouldn’t just leave. He wouldn’t!_

Then she recalled crimson liquid seeping into stark white. Remembered Barricade’s brutal aggression and feral grin.

_Remember, you don’t really know him._

The legal system was a circus that left Jodi wading through a sea of interviews. The questions were horrible and most were terribly misguided. Her stomach churned the first time someone tried to ask if she had been sexually assaulted, and it only seemed to go downhill from there. She soon lost track of who was asking what. They were all asking different versions of the same questions anyway.

She remained tight-lipped through it all, ignoring most of their questions and straight up refusing to answer others. The more they pushed her for useful information the more belligerent she became in her silence.

None of it mattered anymore, and none of them would ever understand.

Fuck, _she_ didn’t understand!

And then her uncle arrived.           

Any remaining hope shattered the moment he filled the doorframe, all her lingering confidence evaporating in an instant. He stepped into the room, his large frame towering over her, calling her name, and telling her how _worried_ he had been. How happy he was that she was alright.

All she could do was sit and tremble, the fear coiling around her heart and slowly tightening.

_Oh God. Oh God, Oh God, oh God._

Jodi’s eyes burned hot as he wrapped his arms tightly around her, pulling her into a crushing hug. They spilled over as he whispered promises into her, knowing, just _knowing_ how sweet and comforting it looked to the social worker standing not even ten feet away.

She didn’t know the threat laced within the words, didn’t know the monster hiding just beneath the skin.

“I’ll never lose you again.”

The words echoed throughout her whole being, branding themselves into her very core.

Never.

 

 

“Is this really necessary? She already talked to the police, as well as a dozen others. This whole ordeal has been long and stressful, and I would like to take my niece home.”

“Sir, I understand, but I can assure you this won’t take long. Please.”

They had been getting ready to catch their flight back to California when they were called back to the station for one last set of questions.

Jodi sat stiffly in the chair, staring down blankly at her lap. Her hands lay folded loosely together, fingers tracing the crisp line of the burn scar peeking out by her left wrist.

Uncle David let out a soft sigh of annoyance, but settled casually in the seat beside her, straightening his tie as he did so. He leaned over and laid a hand on her shoulder. She flinched, but met his gaze regardless. “We’ll get this sorted out, then we can go home.”

She gave a small nod.

Mere minutes later the door swung open admitting two men with matching dark suits. The officer who had shown them in moved forward to shake their hands. “Gentlemen. I’ll leave you to it. Please let us know if we can assist in anything else.”

One just smiled and nodded and while the other gave a curt “Thank you”.

Jodi observed the newcomers warily as they came over and flashed their badges. She stiffened when she saw F.B.I. emblazoned on the top. “Thank you for taking the time to meet with us. I’m Agent Tanaka, and this is my partner, Agent Prowl. We just have a few questions if you don’t mind.”

Uncle David’s hands stilled on the table. “What can we do for you gentlemen?”

The smaller of the two men gave a charming smile and gestured casually to her uncle. “Actually, do you mind if I ask you a few questions in the other room?”

Jodi saw her Uncle pause for a split second, knew which direction his mind was turning. He gave her a look. “Will you be alright for a few minutes by yourself?”

The voice was soft, concerned.

She nodded, then at his narrowed eyes she cleared her throat. “I’ll be fine. Really.”

“Alright then.”

With that he rose from his seat and was politely ushered from the room.

The remaining Agent calmly stepped forward and took the seat directly across from Jodi. He placed a folder on the table in front of him and began leafing through it. With slow precision three pieces of paper were slid across the table and arranged in a neat line.

Jodi lifted her gaze, mismatched eyes staring for several long moments before she fully registered what she was seeing.

Her breath caught in her lungs and her hands stilled.

Three different photos lay before her, each depicting a different scene. The first was of a mangled truck, cab roof peeled back, with rust colored smudges on a deflated airbag. The second was a blurred snapshot of Barricade’s latest Holoform variant, his face was clear enough to be recognizable, but the image was grainy, like a still taken from a security camera.

The third image made her breathe harshly through her nose, locking her gaze firmly in place. Blood on snow. Entrails.

She recognized the corpse.

Schooling her expression, Jodi chewed on her lip and glanced up at the agent sitting across from her. He was pretty average looking all around, a plain face outlined with short mouse-brown hair. There was nothing really extraordinary about him.

Except for bright blue eyes.

“What’s this?” she asked quietly.

“I was hoping you could tell me.” His voice was even and perfectly calm.

Jodi straitened in her seat, hands clenching the denim at her knees. But she remained stubbornly silent.

He leaned forward onto the table, elbows wide and fingers laced together. Jodi’s good eye caught a glint of silver and red on his right hand. He gave her an earnest look, those bright eyes boring into her. “I understand that you have been through a lot. Probably far more than your uncle even realizes.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He gave a small smile before gesturing at two of the photos. “We have reason to believe that you were at both of these crime scenes.” He tapped the snapshot of Barricade. “With him.”

There was an emblem on his ring. It reminded her of another emblem, one she had seen nearly every day for months.

Surprising herself, Jodi’s hand snapped out, grabbing the man’s wrist in one delicate hand, skin against skin. She registered the faint tingling sensation of a low electrical current and froze. It was such small thing, and if she hadn’t been looking for it she highly doubted she would have noticed.

She released his arm and moved back slowly, as if waiting for him to attack.

He was watching her curiously, clearly not understanding the sudden shift in the room, but aware of it nonetheless.

Not realizing that his cover had just been blown.

“Jodi?”

_“Jodi,” Red eyes staring down at her, hand warm against her face. The touch bringing her back into focus. “We have to go. Can you move?”_

“No.” The word was soft, but firm.

A small part of her raged as soon as the words left her mouth. _He betrayed you! Why are you protecting him?_

“I can only imagine the things he has told you, but believe me when I say that he is dangerous. He is resourceful and is a master at lying when he has the mind to do so. He is ruthless.” He seemed to collect himself then, picking his words carefully. “But there is just one thing I do not understand. Why did he let you go?”

That was the big question to everyone it seemed. Why, why, why?

But Hell if she was gonna help these bastards find him. No way.

She gathered as much heat as she could and glared at the form sitting across from her. “We’re done. I won’t help you or your people. Come near me again and I’ll key your side paneling.”

 

 

Together they watched from the window as Jodi was herded towards the parking lot by the looming figure of her uncle. Through the duel visual from his alt mode and his Holoform, Prowl observed carefully as the teen tensed as they reached the first line of vehicles, eyeing them suspiciously while trying to give them a wide berth.

Interesting.

“So . . .” Riley began, taking a small sip from his Styrofoam cup and grimacing. “I hope your conversation was more illuminating than mine. The uncle seems to know squat.”

“As expected,” Prowl murmured to himself, then to his partner. “It was . . . strange.”

“Strange?” the human echoed. “With your vast vocabulary you settle for ‘strange’. Funny.”

“She knew what I was.”

Riley coughed, nearly spilling his coffee. “Huh. Well, I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Obviously she has had more exposure than we thought. I believe it would be prudent to keep her under surveillance. We are missing something.”

He recalled how empty her eyes were until she suddenly grabbed his wrist.

They seemed to harden then, scorching with their intensity.

“We are missing something,” he repeated. “Something vital.”


	16. Chapter 16

Apparently the idea of a Holiday Miracle was too good for the media to pass up and they had swarmed on it like vultures to a fresh carcass. Her story had made headlines all across the nation, all spouting the same sentimental bullshit.

_“A heartwarming reunion this Christmas Eve . . .”_

_“Missing teen, Jodi Hunter, was reunited this evening with her only remaining family . . .”_

The whole charade had left Jodi feeling nauseous.

Uncle David had everyone eating out of his hand, playing the relieved and concerned family member. Thanking everyone appropriately, and just basking in all the positive attention. Even going so far as to offer a cash reward for any information leading to the arrest of her supposed kidnapper.

She read the articles in the paper and watched all the news broadcasts. With jaded eyes she saw what the world was seeing. That poor girl, they thought, she is so lucky that she has such a devoted uncle.

Jodi knew what he was doing. He had done it on a much smaller scale after her mother had passed away.

He was laying out the groundwork. A word or two here, a well-timed phrase there. Little things planted to discredit Jodi long before she ever opened her mouth, lies wrapped in enough truth to paint her in a certain light. Sometimes he even used her own actions against her.

It was how he had explained away the damage to her face.

_“I should have expected something like this. She’s been having issues at school for a while now, I should have anticipated she would attempt something drastic,” Uncle David had said to one doctor, as if she couldn’t hear him through the thin glass door. “Her mother had issues coping after . . . after the loss of my brother. Depression and mental instability run in the family I’m afraid.”_

The fuckers bought it, hook, line, and sinker.

At least there was one bit of silver lining in this whole messed up situation.

Due the lingering public eye, Uncle David was unusually . . . _civil,_ for lack of a better term. It didn’t make her immune though. 

He had manhandled her a bit once they were in the privacy of closed doors, promptly reminding her where she stood with him. Even though he didn’t leave any bruises, he made sure to drive his point home. He let her know how embarrassing it was to have a scraggly runaway for a niece, and informed her, in great vivid detail, exactly what he would do to her if she ever attempted to leave again.

She believed his every word.

She also believed no one would ever find her body.

When he was finally through with her she had scurried upstairs to her room in a blatant retreat. She curled up on the floor, wedged back in the space between the bed and the nightstand, legs drawn to her chest and face buried in her knees. It took over an hour for the tears to fade and her body to stop shaking.

But at least he didn’t _hurt_ her. Not this time. Not _physically_.  

But Jodi wasn’t stupid. She knew her reprieve was only temporary, that he was just biding his time and covering his own ass. With a story as widely covered as hers, there would probably be follow up, and her “recovery” closely monitored by the public. The last thing Uncle David wanted was to implicate himself. Especially not when he had such a convenient scapegoat.

Uncle David _had_ asked about him. Of course he did.

She knew she had to tell him _something._ He wouldn’t tolerate her resistance as well as the authorities had, and he always knew when she was lying.

She had learned early on not to lie outright to her uncle.

So Jodi stuck with a heavily edited version of the truth, and let him come to his own conclusion. She told him that he was her friend. That he was someone she had met on the streets who had taken her under his wing.

That he had saved her.

He had laughed at her as soon as the words left her lips.

It was a deep bellowing laugh that left no doubt in her mind that her uncle was at least a little deranged. He had bent down and taken her face between his hands, forcing her to look at up him while his thumb traced the scar above her eye. _“Saved you? Like your father saved Erica? No. Look around you Jodi. You weren’t saved. You were abandoned to moment he realized how useless you are. Seems to have become a pattern in your life, hasn’t it? They all left you, and they are never coming back.”_

The words cut deep, clawing under her skin and refusing to let go.

With the echoes still ringing in her head, Jodi’s tear-streaked face slowly emerged from between her knees. After staring at the wall for several long minutes, she seemed to come to a decision.

Jodi reached down into the front of her sweater and fished around her sports bra. She pulled the Blackberry from its hiding place and stared at the dark screen as if it held all the secrets of the universe.

Thin fingers traced along the shiny surface, debating.

It was the fist time she had dared to bring it out since she had been back in human custody. Paranoia had told her that if they saw it they would take it away. Bagged, tagged, and stashed away in an evidence locker somewhere, never to be seen again.

She refused to let that happen.

After all, it was the only thing she had left of him besides the shiny new scar on her arm. It was the only gift he had given her.

Jodi chewed her lip as she made her decision. She bit down hard as she pressed and held down the 1 key, quickly bringing the device to her ear.

There was no ring tone. There never was really, just a low electric hum letting her know the comm line was active.

Jodi remembered Barricade explaining the modifications he had made as he showed her how to use it. The way she understood it, the thing was more like a two-way radio than a real phone, and he had essentially put his private frequency on speed dial. As he handed it over he assured her that the connection was solid and would go through in almost any condition.

That he would always hear her.

“’Cade?” Jodi whispered into the line, voice shaky and desperate. Pleading. “’Cade, I know you’re listening. Please talk to me.”

The silence on the other line hit her with all the devastating force of a bulldozer.

Jodi swallowed the lump that suddenly formed in her throat. “Barricade . . . whatever happened, whatever I did, I’m sorry. I’m _sorry_! Please, please . . .”

_Please talk to me. Please tell me why. Please don’t leave me alone. Please don’t prove him right. Please, please, please . . ._

But the silence held and never broke.

 

 

A new routine was created that night.

Every night, after she was sure that Uncle David was asleep, Jodi would sit in the dark and try to contact Barricade.

Over and over she sent her pleas out over the comm line, but never got a reply.

In the wake of the silence she couldn’t help but remember the months spent in his passenger seat, remembering every word, every lesson. Remembered how, in his backhanded way, he had encouraged her to be more confident. Recalled how he would intentionally rile her up. How he would dig and _dig_ at her until she finally snapped back, and his smug look once he got her to rage at him.

In hindsight there had been change in those last few days, their strange dynamic had shifted and she couldn’t tell what had triggered it. But the evidence of that shift stood starkly in her mind.

The images of gutted gangsters and Cybertronian brawls were balanced out with small gestures. He had offered small comforts and physical contact where there had only been distance and harsh sarcasm. A jacket held in offering. Arms holding her until she fell asleep. Hands on her face and then on her arm checking for injuries, large fingers tracing the burn lining her arm. The vow he had given, and the determination lining his voice.

And still he had ditched her.

 _It couldn’t all be a lie, could it?_ A small part of Jodi refused to believe it, clinging desperately to the hope that some of it was real.

That it _meant_ something.

And so every night she reached out, hoping, _praying_ that this time would be different and Barricade’s voice would come over the comm line. Maybe _this_ time he would answer, maybe he would acknowledge her, maybe, maybe, maybe . . .

But he never did.

With every night that passed Jodi couldn’t help but sink further and further into herself. With every silence the fire that ‘Cade had so carefully cultivated banked a little more, slowly dying down to embers. And as it faded she became more and more certain that she had been little more than a convenience, an _amusement_ , and that he wasn’t coming back.

But still she tried.

           

 

_It was the best day she had had in months._

_Jodi was laughing to herself as she stumbled through the front door, quickly slipping out of her sneakers and chucking her backpack next to the doorframe. She pulled a folded piece of heavy paper from her jacket pocket and held it to her chest, biting her lip to suppress her grin._

_“Momma, I’m home!” Jodi called into the house. “You’ll never guess what happened today!”_

_Her art teacher had submitted her last project into a yearly contest held by the district. Her piece had taken third in its category._

_Jodi couldn’t draw to save her life, but when granted free rein she was good with assembling random bits of junk and turning it into something. What she ended up with this time was a truck that could fit between her cupped hands, with an articulated hood and a piece of flannel cloth where the engine should be. Jodi thought her father would have loved the homage to his old Chevy, even if it was just a neat looking paperweight._

_When she had presented it to her teacher she thought the woman would die of shock. Her teacher had quickly recovered with a scowl and then demanded to know why she was only getting a C in her class._

_Jodi’s grin fell a bit when she realized the house was silent._

_“Mom?” She called again, confusion settling in. Mom was home, the car was sitting in the driveway, and the house too small_ not _to hear the door open._

_She stepped into the kitchen and frowned. The table, normally crowded with bills, junk mail and her mother’s ridiculous neon orange fruit basket, was completely cleared except for a piece of paper carefully placed in the center with white envelope sitting atop of it._

_Jodi dropped the note from school onto the table and pulled the paper towards her. The envelope had her name inscribed with her mother’s neat script, but the paper below it left her frozen._

Jodi

Call 911, and stay out of the bathroom.

The words are not meant for you.

I’m sorry.

_For the first time in her life Jodi felt true fear._

_“MOM!”_

_Unthinking, Jodi crushed the envelope in her fist._

_The panic gripped her tight and sent her charging out of the kitchen and down the hallway, only to freeze. The bathroom door was closed, but water was seeping from under the doorframe. The carpet was already saturated._

_Whole body shaking, Jodi knocked tentatively on the bathroom door and jerked back when the door gave under the slight pressure, opening a crack._

_“Mom?” She called softly, voice brittle and trembling. Pushing the door enough to poke her head through, Jodi peeked around the doorframe. “Mom, are you-”_

_The words lay forgotten on her tongue._

_Rich green eyes were riveted on the mirror before her, not quite registering what she was seeing._

_Painted across the reflective surface in her mother’s favorite dark pink lipstick was one short sentence, spelled out in all capitals._

_YOU WILL NEVER HAVE ME._

_Her eyes darted to the overflowing bathtub. The shower curtains were drawn shut, but even so Jodi could make out the dark outline lying still in the water._

_Breath coming out in short gasps, Jodi leaned against the doorframe and slowly sank to the floor as her legs gave out. Warm water soaked into her jeans, but she couldn’t bring herself to care._

_She clutched her hands to her chest, further crumpling the envelope lying forgotten under her fingers._

_For the first time in her life, Jodi was alone._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Change in plans everybody. This story will be finished, in its entirety, by Wednesday. What does that mean for you all? Five to six edited chapters a day until the epilogue goes up along with the next installment of the Wayward One's Verse. Happy reading everybody!


	17. Chapter 17

Jodi forgot how much she hated her school.

There were several tests she had to complete to make sure she wasn’t too far behind others in her year. Despite the large gap in her knowledge she scored better than they were obviously expecting. It wasn’t long before she was declared fit to return to the general population, with only one extra class to make up the difference.

The counselor she had met with had given her a bright smile, and what he considered reassurance. _“If you diligently keep up with your classes and keep the extra course, I have no doubt you’ll make up the missing credits by the time your class graduates.”_

Jodi was so used to living day to day, that all the talk about her future left her feeling like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over her head. Because, seriously? With it being a little more than two years away, graduation was the _last_ thing on her mind.

In the wake of her time on the streets, she had forgotten how annoying and _exhausting_ high school could be. And it wasn’t just the uniform, the ridiculous dress code, or even the classes themselves with their steep ass learning curve.

Mostly, it was the other students.

She forgot how fake everyone was in their little cliques, with all their pretense and posturing. All the rich kids were vying for their position as king or queen in the school hierarchy, and everyone else was busy with their gossip and rounds of “he-said-she-said”.

Jodi never did buy into all that bullshit.

The first time around Jodi dug in her heels and had rebelled against the existing status quo. She refused to fall in with anyone’s expectations and had stood up for herself whenever anyone pushed at her.

The office staff had become uncomfortably familiar with her face within the first week of enrollment.           

But that was before.

Before her uncle stole nearly half her vision. Before she ran away.

Before Barricade.

Upon her return to Palo Alto, Jodi soon became aware that she was now somewhat of a celebrity. Rumors had already circulated through the student body long before her arrival, and whispers seemed to follow her wherever she went. Her peers weren’t exactly subtle about hiding it from her either.

The rumor mill had a field day the first time someone got a good look at her burn scar, and since then Jodi had made it a point to keep it covered.

Hands down, those first few weeks were the worst. Everyone seemed to crowd or corner her at every opportunity, trying to get the story first hand or just asking stupid questions. It got old real quick, and soon Jodi just shut down whenever anyone approached her.

She was too exhausted to fight the good fight, and frankly she couldn’t dreg up enough emotion to care. So she drifted among the ranks like a ghost, feeling disconnected and lost, like a compass with a broken needle.

She didn’t know where to go from here and so she only did what was expected of her. She kept to herself, only really talking when addressed directly from a teacher, or when it was required for her to participate in a group project. Classes soon blurred together, the simple normalcy at odds with the lessons she had become used to on the road.

She threw herself into her schoolwork with an effort that left her teachers pleased and as long as the good reports kept coming it kept her Uncle’s temper in check. What she was really doing was a sad attempt at distracting herself.

Because as much as she admitted that she was well and truly alone, she couldn’t help it when she turned at the unique sound of Mustang’s eight cylinder engine, or how her heart would leap at any glimpse of the stark black and white lines of a patrol car. When she realized what she was doing, she sunk even further into herself, and silently agreed with her Uncle on one undeniable fact.

She really was pathetic.

 

 

“I still say it’s _extremely_ unfair that I’m stuck sitting behind a friggin’ desk while _you’re_ out there still playing up the F.B.I. gig.”

 “Not nearly as glamorous as you make it sound, I assure you.” Prowl’s tone was long suffering.

He cast a sideways glance at the other end of the building where a set of younger Autobots were sitting cross legged atop a metal storage container, bickering over what looked like a card game. Prowl wondered absently where they had procured the cards.

There was a sharp inhale on the other line, suggesting Riley was wincing. “Oh, yeah, I heard about the twins getting dumped on you. Lennox mentioned that Ratchet was on a bit of a rampage, something about orange paint and medbay. So how’s that going for you?”

“Trying,” Prowl replied shortly. “Those two are difficult to manage on the best of days. They’re bored.”

There was a loud crash at the other end of the warehouse, almost to emphasize his point. They halted their roughhousing at Prowl’s sharp order. “Sunny. Patrol. Sides. Surveillance.”

“But-”

“We were just-”

“ _Now._ ”

Prowl stared at them as they transformed and beat a hasty retreat, matching red and yellow Lamborghinis leaving a trail of burned rubber in their wake. He could hear Riley chuckling in his audios.

“I’m glad at least one of us is amused.”

“Hey, you can’t blame me. I usually hear that tone directed at _me_.  I -” There was a muffled thud, and a second voice barking in the background. “Err, Brockman found me. Keep me posted.”

The line dropped abruptly, leaving Prowl alone in a silent warehouse.

Prowl contemplated making his own rounds around nearby Palo Alto. They were competent warriors, but Prowl didn’t want to leave the twins on their own for too long. They had a tendency of finding trouble.

Before he could come to a conclusion, his comm line pinged again.

“Go ahead Optimus.”

“Prowl. Early this morning we picked up the signal of an incoming Cybertronian, but the signal was aborted before we could get a clear reading.”

He ran through the list of known bots capable of tampering with sensors from such a distance. Certainly none of their number. The remaining possibilities were far from comforting. “What was the projected trajectory?”

“North of your location about 350 miles. Any activity from your end?”

“Nothing unusual. It’s been quiet with the girl, and we haven’t seen anything that would suggest further Decepticon activity.”

“I still don’t like it. I’m sending Bluestreak and First Aid your way as a precaution. Be careful and stay sharp.”

“Of course Optimus.”

 

 

The quiet held for months.

The weeks slowly rolled by, California’s wet and cloudy winter drifted away to make room for it’s renowned warmth and sunshine. The days bled together, a smudge of classes and assignment due dates broken up only by the quiet of weekends.  Those were the days Jodi dreaded, where Uncle David would spend the most time with her.

Uncle David seemed almost delighted in the diligent and obedient thing she had become, but every so often he would find some reason to lay into her. Still he did nothing serious, and certainly nothing that would draw attention at school. After all, she still had regular sessions with a psychiatrist and it wouldn’t do for her to show up looking like a poster child for domestic abuse.

Although Jodi believed that if it came to it, Uncle David would have no problem buying them off. Her shrink seemed the type to be easily swayed by a deep pocketbook.

In March Jodi was relieved when her sweet sixteenth came and went with no one other than herself acknowledging the date. That her Uncle ignored her for the entire day was gift unto itself.

It was now May and most of the school was buzzing with excitement as Summer Vacation loomed ever closer. As the date drew nearer, there seemed to be a string of “School Spirit” activities that everyone was chattering about, the upperclassmen were all campaigning for their respective proms, and the rest of the student body seemed divided by a string of various fieldtrips.

One of the less popular field trips was for Jodi’s art class. For extra credit participating students were bused to nearby Stanford University to do field sketches of the various statues scattered about. The one Jodi had settled on was a warped monster of a doorway titled “Gates of Hell”.

She found it oddly appropriate.

So Jodi sat cross-legged on a circular bench, trying in vain to do a recognizable sketch of the bronze statue towering before her. Jodi bit her lip before chewing on the end of her pencil. Maybe her teacher would give her points for sheer ambition.

Then again, she was kinda hard-ass for an art teacher.

Jodi stilled as a shadow fell across her sketchpad. Hesitantly she lifted her gaze to the leggy junior, mentally sighing as recognition hit.

Charity was a junior in Jodi’s class who had recently taken to terrorizing her in the halls. The girl was more than a head taller than her, with brunette hair impeccably styled to emphasize her ridiculously expensive highlights. Jodi quickly took note of the wide stance and haughty tilt of her head, and realized what kind of encounter this was going to be.

Oh _joy._

Jodi leveled a blank stare at the older teen. “Yes?” She drew the word out slowly, cautiously.

“Move. You’re in my spot.”

“There’s an empty bench behind you.”

“Cute.” Charity glowered. “I can’t tap into my artistic talent with you staining my presence. Now shoo.”

Jodi rolled her eyes and went back to her drawing.

She jumped as sketchbook was suddenly slapped sideways from her lap, scattering her pencils and notebooks she had stacked neatly beside her. “Are you deaf as well as blind? I said move it you freak!”

Mismatched green eyes blinked down at her scattered tools before rising to Charity. The older girl stood over her, chin raised and one hand on her hip. The other hand was hanging down by her side, fingers twitching and curling. It was clear that it was supposed to be intimidating.

Jodi was used to far worse.

“That it?” she asked, tone dull and lifeless. “Or are ya gonna hit me?”

Charity’s eyes widened fractionally, but she recovered quickly with a disgusted look. “Oh, _eww._ You _would_ like that wouldn’t you? Wow. You really are a freak.”

With a dramatic huff, Charity spun on her heel and stomped off.

Jodi watched her go with a relieved sigh. Once she was at a safe distance she slid down from her bench to gather her things from the ground.

“You okay?”

Jodi looked up to see a pair of legs. She followed their length up, and _up_ , and _holy shit this guy was tall._ He crouched down to her level and offered her a note pad that had slid further than the rest. Concerned eyes caught her attention and suddenly she was embarrassed and looked away.

She took the note pad slowly and gave a quiet thank you.

He gave a small shrug. “Hey, no problem.” He cleared his throat and gestured in the direction Charity had left. “So . . . that happen often?”

Jodi gave a shrug of her own, dusting herself off and moving to stand. “Doesn’t matter.”

The stranger stood as well, long limbs unfolding. He gave her a kind smile and slipped his hands into the pockets of his jacket, dark flannel shifting with the movement.

With a pang Jodi remembered the jacket ‘Cade hade given her, grey plaid like her father’s.

“So . . . any reason that girl seems to have it in for you?”

Jodi couldn’t resist a snort. “Charity? She thinks I’m moving in on her territory. A guy she has a thing for tried talking to me once, and she decided to come over an’ say he was wasting his time by bothering with me. He turned around and called her a bitch.”

He winced. “Ouch.”

“Yeah. And now I’m on her radar. I hate school politics. I just want to be left alone.”

He chuckled and nodded to himself, ducking his head a little. The gesture made his hair fall into his face. “Oh, I know, trust me. I got picked on a lot when I was younger.”

She gave him a dubious look, eying the sheer size of him. More length than width, but the guy was practically a tree. “Right.”

“I’m serious.”

“Sure.” She didn’t believe him for a minute.

“It’s true! I was one of the smaller guys at school until junior year.” His smile was warm if a little shy. “So there’s hope for you right?”

Jodi laughed despite herself. “I still don’t believe you, but okay.”

Remembering her assignment, Jodi turned and picked up her school issued sketch book. She tilted her head at it, squinting her good eye and frowning slightly. “Ya know . . . is it bad that it looks better now than before the bitch smudged it?”

“You’re asking the wrong person. There’s a reason I’m looking to study law. I can’t draw to save my life.”

Before she could respond, Jodi was interrupted by a horrible metallic shriek coming from her skirt pocket. Eyes widening in shock, she fumbled with the material and pulled out her Blackberry, which was the source of the awful racket.

Hope soared.

“’Cade?” Jodi asked desperately, holding the device to her ear. “’Cade, is that you? Talk to me.”

As abruptly as the noise started it stopped, leaving behind the usual dead silence.

“’Cade? _‘Cade!_ ”

_Dammit!_

Thin fingers clenched over the offending object, knuckles quickly turned white. Jodi’s teeth clenched and her breathing became harsh and ragged.

For a moment she had thought . . . that maybe . . .

“Everything alright?”

Jodi recoiled, suddenly reminded that she wasn’t alone. She took in the concerned face and searching hazel eyes.

Her mind backpedaled, thoughts now in turmoil.What was she doing? Here she was with this total stranger, talking like . . . like everything was _normal_.

She panicked.

Abruptly, Jodi was in motion, scrambling around and gathering her things hastily.

“I gotta go.”

“Hey, wait-”

But she was already gone.

 

**Bonus Clip** :

 Sam stared after the kid until she had scurried out of sight, utterly confused. Worry had firmly lodged itself in his chest, especially with the theories and hunches dancing in the forefront of his mind.

But even with his gut instinct screaming at him he forced himself to dismiss it and firmly brushed it all aside.

It wasn’t any of his business.

Besides, Stanford was supposed to be a fresh start for him. The beginning to a new life.

A _normal_ life.

He let out a long huffing sigh through his nose and ran a hand through his hair, trying in vain to push the strands out of his face. He paused and glanced down at his wrist, eyes widening at the time.

Crap.

He had twenty five minutes to book it to the other side of campus if he wanted to make it to his meeting with his counselor. And Stanford was nothing if not enormous.

And so Sam continued on with his day, filing away his encounter to examine at a later date.

 

It would be another two years before Jodi and Sam crossed paths again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Change in plans everybody. This story will be finished, in its entirety, by Wednesday. What does that mean for you all? Five to six edited chapters a day until the epilogue goes up along with the next installment of the Wayward One's Verse. Sam here will play a much larger part in one after that. Happy reading everybody!


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters 18-22 are what I refer to as "The Day of Hell". There is a lot that happened in this part of the story along with a lot of character information that I couldn't properly share withing the restrictions of Disregarded. There are a few deliberately left plot-holes that were left in this time frame as well. The next installment of The Wayward Ones verse "On the Flip Side" fills these gaps and sets up some major plot points for Jodi and the gang for future fics. I hope you continue to enjoy the ride. Carry on.

Jodi was stressed.

Okay, given the situation as a whole maybe “stressed” was the wrong word.

Worried? That fit better, but didn’t do the feeling in her gut any justice.

Since her comm unit had gone off day before yesterday, Jodi had changed her routine. Instead of just the one nightly attempt to reach out to ‘Cade, she had bumped it up to nearly a dozen tries during her school day. Thankfully, cell phones were allowed at school as long as the teacher’s didn’t see them during class.

So she would retreat to quiet places between classes and talk into her Blackberry over and over. With every additional silence, the feeling in her dug deeper and tore at her insides.

After so many weeks of silence, the noise had to have meant something.

Right?

Horrible possibilities chased each other around her head, the images they produced making Jodi chew her lip and bite her nails until there were near bleeding.

What if he was found? What if more injuries had opened up than she thought? What if he fell back into stasis lock? What if he was d-

Stop it. _Stop it, stop it, stop it!_

Trying to keep her roiling emotions under control, she tried to focus on the remaining ten minutes of her history class. Thankfully they had a substitute, so the lesson was less boring than normal. The man was younger than their usual teacher and seemed to whole-heartedly believe in “audience participation”. His words. The fact that every vocal answer, correct or not, was rewarded with candy insured that he had everyone’s attention.

Except for Jodi’s.

She spoke when called upon, and made sure to take plenty of notes, but as the minutes ticked by she could feel her little Blackberry burning a hole through her skirt pocket. 

When the bell rang for lunch Jodi practically launched herself from her seat, slinging her backpack over her shoulder. She made a quick pit-stop to dump her backpack in her locker, shoving at stack of textbooks and binders inside until she could make everything fit. After a moment she tugged at the bottom of the stack until her history textbook slid free. If she couldn’t pay attention during class the least she could do was read the material.

As soon as she set foot back in the main hall her hand slipped into her pocket. Familiarity let her press the necessary key without looking, and lifted it to her ear.

Jodi was mid-sentence when she was shoulder checked, hard, into a row of lockers. She grunted with pain as the wind was knocked out of her.

The Blackberry was jarred right out of her hand and skittered across the floor and came to rest at the toes of an expensive pair of Mary Janes. It was promptly scooped up by a freshly manicured hand.

“Oh, wow, a Pearl? Really? Why am I not surprised by the fact that you own such an outdated piece of crap?”

Jodi took a deep breath and leveled a dull look at the other girl. “Give it back Charity.”

She was ignored as Charity gestured to her friends with the little Blackberry, waving it at them. “Can you believe this? It’s like she’s too poor to afford a real phone. It doesn’t even have a touch screen!”

Annoyance sparked as the group giggled and snickered. Jodi clenched her jaw and took a step towards them, trying to snatch her comm unit back.

Jodi was reminded exactly how short she was when the older girl simply lifted it out of reach. “My, aren’t we grabby! What’s wrong, do you have something to hide?” Charity arched an eyebrow at her and smirked. “You have a stash of dirty pictures on here, don’t you? How slutty of you.”

With that she turned to the Blackberry and started messing with the buttons. Charity gave a small frown.

“What’s wrong with this thing? It doesn’t even have a network connection. Must be broken.” A slow grin came across her face. “Here, let me give you an excuse to get a new one.”

Charity stretched her arm out and took her friend’s soda, lifting the bottle over Jodi’s Blackberry.

Understanding came like a lightning strike, sharp, clear and bold against the darkness, and it boiled down to two startling facts.

This girl was going to destroy her comm unit.

Jodi would never hear from Barricade again.

Fear ignited into fury, the emotion burning hotter and more fiercely than anything she had ever felt. Its heat consumed her and threw her into action before she even realized she had come to a decision.  

Charity staggered back as a history textbook connected with her cheek with the force of a baseball bat. 

Jodi lunged at the taller girl, toppling her before she could really get her bearings. She managed to get two clean punches before Charity retaliated. Long fingers knotted tightly in her hair and viciously yanked her head back. Jodi grit her teeth and clawed at the hand gripping her scalp, while still trying to do damage to Charity’s face.

“Get off me you psyco!” she screeched, giving Jodi’s hair a brutal twist. Charity’s other hand flailed, and an acrylic nail found purchase on a bottom lip.

Scrabbling for a weapon Jodi found a pencil rolling on the floor, escaped from someone’s backpack. Her fingers closed around it like a knife and swung it at the arm holding her head immobile.

Wood splintered and snapped as it was plunged into a forearm. Jodi felt a grim sort of satisfaction as she wrenched the splinters down, widening the wound and driving them further into the muscle.

Charity shrieked in pain and let go of Jodi completely.

Taking advantage of the retreat Jodi leapt in for another attack.

Someone started screaming and suddenly there were hands grabbing Jodi, dragging her off a now sobbing Charity.

Adrenaline was still pumping white hot through her veins, adding fuel to her anger. She thrashed hard, writhing like a snake in someone’s grip. She managed to shake off the first set of hands, but the next ones to grab her were like iron and no amount of twisting set her free.

“Alright kiddo, that’s enough.”

Even as her body settled into the restraint, her mind raged on. The roar in her ears was deafening and refused to be calmed.

“That’s enough.”

_Damn right it is,_ she thought fiercely. Now that it was alive and burning through her, Jodi clung tightly to her anger and wrapped it around herself like armor.

She was done.

 

 

It was a huge spectacle.

Charity had whimpered and wailed like a little bitch as the paramedics carted her away.

Jodi had made it a point to stand tall and defiant all the way to the officer’s Crown Victoria.

Palo Alto Police had been quick on the scene. News of the fight and a student getting arrested spread faster than wildfire on a dry and windy day. Dozens of students ignored the faculty and came to watch Jodi get led away in cuffs.

Now here she was in the heart of the police department, sitting alone in an interrogation room as they debated what to do with her. Apparently they were having a hard time contacting her uncle.

She had just snorted at that. It wasn’t surprising. Uncle David had said he had an important meeting today about acquiring a smaller firm. He never took calls during his business meetings and the last receptionist to ignore that rule was fired on the spot.

She sat there lost in her own thoughts, so she couldn’t help but jump as the door burst open.

The figure that stormed in was familiar, and Jodi quickly recognized the Holoform she had met right before her uncle brought her back to California.

And _man_ did he look pissed.

He stalked across the room, as aggressive and ominous as a thunderstorm, and for one startling moment Jodi was reminded irrationally of _Barricade._ But where her friend would have paced while ranting, this one seemed to rein himself in enough to settle into one spot, his expression angry but tightly controlled. He lifted one hand where she could see it and waved a small device at her before setting it down in front of him.

Jodi stared at her Blackberry, and fought down the urge to grab it.

“How long have you had this?” he barked, pointing at it.

Jodi gave a careless shrug. “Doesn’t matter.”

“ _How long have you had this?”_

At her stubborn silence he dragged over a chair, it’s legs screeching in protest as they slid across linoleum floor. He sat and stared for a long moment before speaking. “I don’t know what story he spun for you,” he told her. He seemed a little calmer than he was a moment before but still tense, as if it took serious effort to keep himself still. “I don’t know how you came in contact with him in the first place. But I _do_ know how it feels to be betrayed, and I don’t blame you for falling victim to his lies. For trying to protect him.”

Jodi glared at him, pouring as much heat into it as she could. “You don’t know a damn thing about us.”

He gave a faint and fleeting smile. It looked more like a grimace. “I wish that were the case.” He picked up her Blackberry, fingers brushing over the keys. “There was a time, long ago, where I was in the same position you are now. I trusted him too once, fully and implicitly. It was a folly and I nearly paid for it with my life.” Bright blue eyes grew flinty and he sat a little straighter. “I’ll be damned to the Pit before I let you make the same mistake I did.”

“Before you let me-” Jodi leaned back in her chair and gave wry grin. “Even if I bought a single word you’re saying, which for the record _I don’t,_ you people haven’t given me a single reason to trust you.”

“I somehow find it difficult to believe that Barricade has.”

“I don’t give a damn what you think!” she snarled, low and heated. “Let’s say you’re right. Everything he ever told me could all be a lie. But you know what? I don’t _fucking care_! Because none of it _matters_! Who cares how long I’ve had the stupid comm unit? He hasn’t responded since he ditched me on the side of the road like some unwanted pet! He’s long gone and he’s not coming back!”

Jodi made a strangled noise as the words tumbling out of her mouth hit home.

She wrapped a hand around her burn scar, thumb nail digging painfully into the soft tissue. She wouldn’t cry. She wouldn’t, she _wouldn’t_ . . .

Eyes burning she stared at the Holoform sitting across from her, waiting for him to say something. He stared back, eyes studying her in a way that made her feel like her very core was laid bare.

The moment stretched.

He turned away first, sighing in frustration.

He outstretched his arm and offered Jodi her Blackberry. “Take it.”

She eyed him warily, and clenched her fists in her lap to keep from snatching it.

When she made no move to take it from him he placed it back on the table and slid it at her. She caught it on reflex before it came off the end of the table.

Once it was safely in her grasp she gave it a quick once over. It had a few new scratches from it’s earlier abuse, but otherwise it seemed okay. She clutched it tightly, irrationally worried that it would disappear.

Jodi was at a loss for words. The lump in her throat made it suddenly hard to speak, but she tried anyway. “Why would you-” she swallowed hard as suspicion settled in. “You bugged it didn’t you?”

“There was no need to. There is already a tracking device incorporated to the modifications.”

“There’s a-” Jodi bit her lip, teeth reopening the cut Charity’s claws had made. She resolutely ignored the hurt that welled up, trampling it with her lingering anger. She clenched her fists harder. The bite of her nails digging into her palm kept her grounded.

_That_ _son of a bitch._

All this time . . . while every night Jodi spent worrying, hoping, _praying_ . . . he could have found her at any time. He _knew_ exactly where to find her if he ever bothered to look.

Jodi shook her head, breathing hard through her nose.

As she tried to collect her thoughts she busied herself with her Blackberry, giving the thing a more thorough examination. She blinked owlishly when she noticed something.

A new contact had been added.

_Prowl_ the screen said.

She turned the device to where he could see it. “What the hell is this?” she demanded.

“My private comm line,” he replied simply.

Jodi was hovering somewhere between shock and suspicion.

Suspicion quickly won out.

“Why let me keep it?” she asked. “Aren’t you worried I’ll spill my guts to ‘Cade? That I’ll tell him all about our little chat?”

“It’s a calculated decision. You were already classified as a security risk even before we were aware of the comm unit. However, in light of recent developments I believe it prudent to leave you with the means to contact us if need be. Also, given your violent reaction to the threat of it being destroyed, it obviously has some value to you. It's best for everyone if you keep it.”

“So . . . what? You just gonna let me walk away with evidence?”

“I’ve already handled it. Believe it or not, I am not your enemy.”

Before Jodi could even reply to _that_ little statement, the door banged open once more.

Her uncle swooped into the room, his work briefcase in hand and his suit slightly ruffled. His sharp eyes took in the scene before him, and his posture immediately straitened. “Agent,” he said, recognizing him as easily as Jodi had. “I sincerely hope you are not questioning my niece without her guardian or legal representation present.”

His tone was honey-coated steel, and the sound of it sent a chill right down to Jodi’s bones.

_Oh crap._

“I was just leaving actually.” Prowl rose and gave a respectful nod to both of them, but those blue eyes lingered on Jodi a moment longer. “Please contact me if you need anything.”

Then he was gone.

Jodi tried not to shake when Uncle David turned his full attention to her. He gave her a beckoning gesture. “Come along Jodi, its time to go home. We have _much_ to discuss.”         

 

  
   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, character cameo #2 was hidden (not so subtle) in this chapter. Did anyone spot them?


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters 18-22 are what I refer to as "The Day of Hell". There is a lot that happened in this part of the story along with a lot of character information that I couldn't properly share withing the restrictions of Disregarded. There are a few deliberately left plot-holes that were left in this time frame as well. The next installment of The Wayward Ones verse "On the Flip Side" fills these gaps and sets up some major plot points for Jodi and the gang for future fics. I hope you continue to enjoy the ride. Carry on.

Jodi had never seen her uncle so furious.

 The drive home was so riddled with tension that the air was electric with it. To make it worse, whenever her uncle drove angry he never spoke, letting Jodi stew in the silence and giving her imagination enough time to get creative.

His body spoke volumes though, if you knew where to look.

Jodi could usually tell how bad it was by body language alone. Index finger tapping on the stick shift meant lots of shouting, but usually nothing too physical. If he was wringing his hands over the steering wheel cover than Jodi could expect bruises. Adjustments made to perfect hair and a tie that was already strait and Jodi knew that she would be visiting the hospital.

But now he was doing _all_ of those, and Jodi’s mind had gone into overdrive.

 _He’s gonna kill me,_ she said to herself. _I’m gonna disappear and they’re never gonna find my body._

Her mind ran itself in circles, all along the same horrible tangents, and the harder she tried to think of something else the more worked up she became until she was nearly paralyzed with the anticipation.

She got herself so worked up that she didn’t even realize that they had parked until he was dragging her from the car.

Her fear ratcheted up another notch.

Uncle David never manhandled her where the neighbors could see.

Never.

_Oh God. This is bad, so, so bad . . ._

Jodi’s heart thudded hard against her ribs as she was hauled up the driveway and over the threshold. Once in the entry hall he shoved her forward. The front door slammed shut with all the finality of a prison gate.

She sprinted down the hall, shooting for the bathroom, or the unused guest room, _anywhere_ with a locking door.

He caught up to her five strides in, catching her by the bicep. His nails buried themselves into her skin as he dragged her back before pushing her into the kitchen.

“Do you have _any idea_ what you cost me today?”

The low pitch of his words set off every alarm imaginable inside Jodi’s head, but she still turned to face him. All she could do was stand there on shaky legs and wait for his next move.

“Months of negotiating _wasted_! Thanks to your act of assault and battery, I had an officer interrupt the most important meeting I’ve had all year! They’ll never do business with us after this little stunt!” He was working himself up, building on the fury behind the words. He paced back and forth, his posture screaming agitated predator, but his eyes never left hers. The shear force behind them held her tight and rooted her to the spot. “And then there’s the matter of the girl you sent to the hospital. Her mother works for me, did you know that? Do you have any idea how much it’s going to cost me to keep the cow from taking us to court?”

“All you care about is your pocketbook.”

Jodi was horrified with herself as soon as the words escaped her mouth.

The slap struck as quick as a viper. The brute strength behind it spun her hard, making her catch herself against the white marble counter and gasping for breath.

Her vision came to focus on the knife block in front of her.

Whatever had possessed her when she attacked Charity was still humming faintly through her body. It buzzed through her now, sending vibrations down to the marrow of her bones. The force of it was at war with her conditioned paralysis, urging her to motion and screaming at her to _fight_!

A large hand fell on her shoulder, grabbing a fistful of her uniform.

It was enough to spur her into action.

In a flash Jodi wrapped thin fingers around one of those ebony handles and _spun_. She swung the knife in a wide arc, catching her uncle across the chest.

He let loose a strangled yell, and his grip fell away as he staggered back, touching the shallow cut that was spilling blood all over his Armani suit. He stared disbelievingly at the crimson liquid painted there, as if he didn’t quite make the connection.

“Don’t touch me!” Jodi snarled, leveling the knife in his direction.

Uncle David stilled and straightened, all his focus returning with a frightening intensity. And it was all aimed at _her._

Her arms began to tremble in fearful recognition, but she held firm and gripped her weapon tighter.

“No more you sadistic son of a bitch,” she told him, not caring how her voice broke in the middle.

With her free hand she fished out her Blackberry, fingers hitting the necessary keys without looking. Utilizing her new contact for the first time.

Even as she made the call she sent out a prayer to whoever was listening that she wasn’t wrong about _this_ , if nothing else.

Her uncle caught the motion. “Now Jodi, lets not do something regretful.”

She refused to grace that with a response and lifted the device to her ear.With speed belying a man his size, Uncle David lunged at her, batting the phone from her hand. They grappled for the knife, and it was all Jodi could do to keep the razor sharp edge pointed _away_ from her. Using his weight and reach to manhandle her, Jodi’s uncle slammed her back against the counter, twisting her arm brutally in an attempt to disarm her. When she refused to let go he gripped harder and swung down, slamming her wrist on the corner of the marble countertop.

Something snapped audibly.

Jodi screamed.

The knife clattered to the tile floor, dropped from now nerveless fingers.

He threw her down, sending her sprawling and making her shriek as she cracked her head on the cabinet doors and landed on her now broken wrist. Then he was on her, one hand clamping down on her face, stifling her noise.

She thrashed beneath him, bucking and writhing for all she was worth. Panic coursed through her as she remembered the last time they were like this. Remembered being dragged and pinned, and trying to scream as he poured peroxide over his handy work.

He had the same look now as he did then.

When his other hand closed around her throat and _squeezed_ she realized that no, this was _so much worse_.

Black spots began to dance across her vision and her lungs burned, trying desperately to take in precious oxygen.

_No! no, no, no . . . ._

Her limbs began to slow, and her vision was beginning to go grey, and no matter how she clawed or scratched or bit she couldn’t dislodge him.

There was no escaping this.

As she fell into the dark there was a sudden release of pressure and the sharp vibration of something heavy hitting the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't murder me yet, more is on the way!


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters 18-22 are what I refer to as "The Day of Hell". There is a lot that happened in this part of the story along with a lot of character information that I couldn't properly share withing the restrictions of Disregarded. There are a few deliberately left plot-holes that were left in this time frame as well. The next installment of The Wayward Ones verse "On the Flip Side" fills these gaps and sets up some major plot points for Jodi and the gang for future fics. I hope you continue to enjoy the ride. Carry on.

He had no idea that it would be like this.

Since the collapse of his small family back on Cybertron, Barricade had never been one to seek out company. He would follow orders quickly, efficiently, and without complaint, but he would never go out of his way to socialize with his comrades. He was perfectly content to be left to his own thoughts and devices.

He had no idea when that all changed.

Barricade didn’t realize just how integrated the little human had become in his life until he had removed her from it.

The quiet alone was maddening. Admittedly, the two of them were never really much for mindless chatter. But now he found that he missed their banter, especially when he was tending to his injuries, where her questions and occasional commentary would distract from the pain. Even when she wasn’t talking, there was usually something to keep him aware of her presence. The rustle of clothing, the slight shift of weight in the passenger seat, light touches to his dermal plating.

And now he drowned in the silence.

If someone had told him that being without the little human would be like missing a vital component he would probably have shot them in the skidplate.

But as it was he _did_ feel her absence.

Keenly.

The first time she commed him he nearly broke on the spot. The sound of her voice after over a week without it was almost enough to shatter his resolve. But he kept his silence, reminding himself sternly that the line was anything but secure and that she was probably under Autobot scrutiny.

At the time he had been satisfied that his plan had gone as smoothly as it did, hasty made as it was. It served his purpose all too well. He knew, without a doubt, that his little spectacle had grabbed the attention of every Autobot in the vicinity. It was also safe to assume that the Decepticons had got wind of it not long after.

All the better, in the long run.

The Autobots were predictable in their thinking. Given their last sighting of him, they probably assumed that Barricade had taken her as collateral in his need to escape. They would treat her with some level of suspicion, especially after the high profile chase he had orchestrated, but they wouldn’t do anything rash. If they hadn’t made contact with her directly, then at the very least they would be keeping close tabs on her.

Given the situation, this was the best he could do for her.

This was the closest he would ever come to satisfying his life dept.

The truth was that he wouldn’t survive another encounter with his kind, regardless of faction. The Autobots would no doubt deactivate him if they could, and if one of the Decepticons had caught him with Jodi in tow . . .

Well.

Some things were worse than death, and he had made her a vow.

 _This is better_ , he had told himself firmly as he listened to Jodi beg and plead over the comm line.

"Barricade . . . whatever happened, whatever I did, I'm sorry. I'm _sorry_! Please, please . . ."

He pointedly ignored the ache in his spark, burying it deep.

 _This is better_ , he repeated firmly, as if to convince himself. _This way she’s safe._

 

 

Jodi was nothing if not persistent.

After the initial silence had been broken, the calls kept coming with startling regularity. Night after night they came, with all the steady rhythm of a metronome. They became as constant and reliable as she had been in his presence and they always came within the same two-hour window. The words never varied much, mostly different renditions of the same thing over and over.

There was a tiny, greedy part of him that was glad that she kept at it even if it was repetitive and annoying. Because, if nothing else, it meant that he had made a lasting impact on her tiny, fleeting life. That the impact had left enough of an impression to cling to, even if she sounded desperate and depressed because of it.

It was selfish, but he coveted the feeling nonetheless, tucking it tightly in the deepest recesses of his processor.

If he could be honest with himself for longer than a few nanoseconds at a time, he would admit that he treasured the thought that she maybe, possibly, had considered him in the same manner he did her. The two of them caught somewhere between the blurred lines of companion, comrade, and . . .

Family wasn’t the right word, but it was the one that lingered there on the outer rims of his thoughts. Mocking him.

Which is why he avoided that line of thinking all together.

While Jodi’s voice haunted his nights, his days were spent back on the road. His tires carried his aching body clear across the continent to the east coast, where he drifted along the freeways and interstates like a phantom, drifting from town to town in no particular order.

At first he made it a point to stay as far away from Jodi as possible.

Thanks to coverage from the human media, Barricade knew that Jodi was now located in California with a close blood relative. He tried not too pay too much attention when he heard some snippet about her over the radio, or local news broadcasts, but he couldn’t help but be surprised that the news had traveled this far.

But it didn’t matter, she wasn’t his responsibility anymore.

She _wasn’t_.

But her calls still came, and in time they became more and more subdued.

Her happiness shouldn’t matter to him as long as she was _alive._ It shouldn’t. It _didn’t_!

But there was something off about her voice, and with every call it became more and more apparent. It was almost like . . .

Like back when they first met. There had been a certain tone her voice would fall into, back in the beginning, trembling and shaking along with that _look_.

Almost against his will he found himself slowly gravitating west-ward, his erratic driving bringing him closer and closer to California.

Closer to Jodi.

He was passing through southern Idaho when her routine changed.

He was surprised to hear her voice so early in the day, and was just going to just brush off the irregularity when she called again. And again. She commed him ten times in a six hour period.

He warred with himself, briefly, before he came to a decision. Jodi was a resourceful little thing, he was sure that she was fine.

However, a small reconnaissance of the situation couldn’t hurt.

There was still the possibility of the lingering presence of Autobots, but given the lapse of time he doubted there was anything more than a small surveillance team left in the area. With his recently repaired signal dampener even that shouldn’t be a problem.

The first tendrils of concern wove themselves around him when Jodi’s comms started as early as the previous day and came just as frequently.

On the fourth call Jodi’s voice was abruptly cut off followed by a metallic slam.

Then silence.

Barricade bolted.

His tires devoured the road, leaving nothing but smoke and twin lines of burned rubber in their wake.

 

 

Barricade followed the tracking signal all the way into a sprawling series of suburbs spread across a wide valley. It led him to the western edge, to an area resting just below the foothills. He was less then a mile away from his destination when a Cybertronian signature brushed against the edge of his sensors.

As soon as the signature registered as Autobot he fell back, making sure his dampener was up and running, and settled in to wait impatiently.

He observed as the signals from both Jodi’s comm unit and the Autobot converged, the bot’s signal widening slightly before returning to normal. Most likely caused by the activation of a Holoform.

For a brief moment Barricade was curious who the Autobots had sent, and wished his sensors were sensitive enough to tell. Though he would have preferred for a means of eavesdropping on the conversation instead.

If there was a conversation at all. Just because the comm unit was there didn’t necessarily mean that Jodi was present as well.

The thought was sobering and set him even further on edge.

It wasn’t long before the two signals parted ways, the Autobot first, then the comm unit. Thankfully, they left in different directions.

Keeping to human traffic laws in order to avoid attention, Barricade quickly closed the distance on his target. He tailed the signal from several car-lengths back and quickly took note that he was following a polished silver sedan carrying two human passengers.

Something in his chassis loosened, and with it some the tension.

Staying at a discreet distance, he was led further into residential streets lined with tall trees and opulent houses. He rolled to a stop at the corner as the sedan pulled into a driveway, and watched as a tall male human stepped out of the car. He walked briskly over to the passenger side, wrenched open the door and practically dragged the occupant out into the open.

Even at this distance there was no mistaking Jodi.

But something was wrong.

From his vantage point he could see a slash of dried blood lining her bottom lip, and the fine tremor that had gripped her whole body. He could see her wide eyes darting up to the man ushering her and then forward to the front door, as if it was a monster waiting to devour her whole.

It was then that he registered the man’s appearance, and was sharply reminded of his original Holoform, the one with the facial hair and the older face.

His fuel tank churned as several large puzzle pieces fell into place, and the picture they painted was ugly.

The door slammed shut behind them.

_You made a mistake here._

A scream pierced the air, the sound sending chills down to his core.

He reacted.

Tires spinning, he sped down the street, materializing his Holoform before he even came to the driveway. He smashed the door open with his shoulder, ignored the wood splintering around him and forced his way into the house, following the steady signal from Jodi’s comm unit and the distinct sounds of a scuffle. He briefly registered a large open room before focusing on the two hunched figures on the floor.

There was blood on the floor and a knife lying nearby.

Barricade was in motion before his optics could even fully register the situation. With a snarl he grabbed the man from the back of his jacket, ripped him away from his victim and tossed him across the room. A small sense of satisfaction settled over him when he shattered the glass dining table on impact.

Dismissing him as a further threat, he rushed to Jodi who was lying still on the floor.

“Jodi?” He crouched low over her as he tried to assess the damage. But he knew precious little of human injuries, and he was at a loss. He touched her bottom jaw with one hand, thumb brushing lightly over the blooming marks on her neck, the other lightly shaking her shoulder. “Jodi, come on, you have to help me. I have no experience with human repairs.” He shook her more firmly. “Jodi!”

“Stop it,” she groaned, words slurring a bit. “Tha’ hurts.”

_Oh, thank Primus._

“Good, come on,” he coaxed, hand guiding her face to look at him, and willing her to focus. “Jodi, talk to me.”

Her eyes came into focus then, and several emotions twisted across her face. “’Cade?” Her voice was raspy and hoarse, no doubt made even worse by the tears he could see welling in her eyes. “You- you _jackass_!”

She moved to pound her right hand against his chest only to screech and crumple in on herself, cradling the injured limb close to her body.

“Oh god,” she whimpered, clearly in pain. “It’s broken, it’s broken, oh god he _broke it_ . . .”

“Hold on,” he told her shortly, then promptly gathered the little human in his arms and lifted her to her feet. He adjusted his grip as she swayed dangerously, eyes drifting. “Stay awake.” He gave her another shake. “Jodi!”

She jerked to attention and groaned. “ _Stop,_ ” she said, dragging the word out. “Not helping. Jus’ _stop._ ”

He needed to get out of here. _They_ needed to get out of here.

A crunch and the clinking sound of glass shifting brought Barricade’s attention back to the other human in the room. Clutching Jodi closer, he glared as the man stumbled to his feet, bracing himself against a chair for support.

Barricade saw the cut across his front and felt a surge of pride knowing that Jodi had put it there.

He found his balance and glared at the two of them, eyes alight with something wild. “The cops will be here any minute,” he grinned, crimson staining his teeth. “I’ll have you thrown in prison!”

Barricade bit back a growl. “Pray to your god, human. Because the next time we meet, _I will kill you._ ”

Feeling Jodi quake in his arms, Barricade turned them away and steered them out the door.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters 18-22 are what I refer to as "The Day of Hell". There is a lot that happened in this part of the story along with a lot of character information that I couldn't properly share withing the restrictions of Disregarded. There are a few deliberately left plot-holes that were left in this time frame as well. The next installment of The Wayward Ones verse "On the Flip Side" fills these gaps and sets up some major plot points for Jodi and the gang for future fics. I hope you continue to enjoy the ride. Carry on.

“Come on Jodi, stay awake. I need you to keep talking.” He could see her sinking further into his seat, her whole body listing against the door. “Jodi!”

Her eyes flew wide as she straitened. She blinked owlishly as she tried to take in the passing scenery. “Why are we at Stanford?”

It was the first complete and coherent sentence he had heard from the girl since they left her relatives residence. Seeing as he was clueless about human first aid, he couldn’t afford to have his one source of information down for the count. That, and he had a sudden fear that if she fell asleep now he would never see her wake up.

So he latched on to whatever he could get.

“We’re making our way to the nearest freeway. Now focus. How bad are your injuries?”

“I’ll live.”

He leveled his best glare at her short answer. “I need you to elaborate.”

She rubbed at the discoloration at her throat with her good hand, the other cradled in her lap. She kept her eyes averted, jaw clenched tight. “If you want 280 we need to turn right up there, and then another at Junipero Serra.”

“ _Jodi_.”

“Stop acting like you care!”

The words lanced through him, piercing down to the very core. He tried to shake them off, but found it unusually difficult to do so. He had a good idea why she was acting this way, and he understood. He had hurt her by leaving, not even realizing he was landing her back into the situation that had sent her running in the first place.

But just because he understood didn’t mean he wanted to deal with those wrecked emotions _right this minute._

He gripped his own steering wheel tightly and prayed for patience. “Jodi, we don’t have time for this.”

“ _Fine._ ” She bit her bottom lip, and then took a slow and shuddering breath.

“My head is throbbing, and my wrist hurts whenever I move my arm. It needs x-rays and a cast, and it hurts to talk. But _none of that matters_ because you can’t take me to the hospital without exposing yourself to the other Cybertronians looking for you!”

Frustration rolled through his circuits when he realized that she was right, which only served to make him angry with himself. More than anything he hated being useless. When you were useless you soon became helpless, and the helpless didn’t survive very long in his experience.

_Dammit!_

Barricade listened to Jodi’s directions, letting her lead them back to the freeway as he continued to berate himself. Internally he fumed and raged, angry at the fact that he had rescued his human only to find that he couldn’t _help_ her.

He didn’t know what to do, and they had nowhere to go.

Soon they were heading north on 280, with Barricade still trying to keep Jodi awake and focused as he desperately tried to think of a plan.

He was so lost in the situation at hand that he failed to notice the vehicle that drifted up behind them. He nearly swerved into the next lane when a familiar voice came over his comm. A sudden sense of urgency gripping him at two words, every fiber of his being screaming at him to run as fast and as far as he could.

_“Barricade: Report.”_

_Oh, for the love of Primus, this cannot be happening_ now!

He spotted a dark purple news van several lengths back and quickly closing the distance, his close range sensors confirming what he already knew. Barricade had no idea when Soundwave had made land fall, or whether or not he had heard of Barricade’s rebellion against Starscream. He didn’t know if the older mech heard that he had let one of his precious casseticons get deactivated after being assigned his partner.

But that didn’t matter, because once he was close enough, he would _know._

His defection, his loyalties, his dept, all of it would be laid bare and there would be nothing he could do about it.

He had seen what had become of mechs that had angered Soundwave. There was never much left of them by the time he was through.

Barricade’s sudden panic seemed to pull Jodi into focus, making herself aware of the situation. “What?” She twisted in her seat. He tried not to care when she winced at her jostled arm. It didn’t take her long to realize they were being followed, eyes following the van zipping from lane to lane. “Is that another one of those Autobot guys?”

“No,” he responded shortly, speeding up to weave through traffic, observing carefully as the van shadowed his movements and increased his own speed. Barricade’s mind was racing, trying to decide what to _do_.

“What do you mean ‘no’? How many factions did you guys have?”

“Just the two.”

“Then why . . .” Her eyes grew wide as she pieced something together. “’Cade, what aren’t you telling me?”

“Jodi-”

“No! What _aren’t you telling me_?”

_“Barricade: REPORT.”_

“We are _not_ having this discussion! Not right now!”

Jodi laughed, but the sound was mirthless and bitter. “Wow, is there _anyone_ you’re not running from? Maybe Prowl was right after all.”

All thought processes ground to a screeching halt as soon as that name tumbled from Jodi’s lips. His Holo turned to look at her. “Prowl? Prowl is here? You’re _sure?_ ”

She seemed startled at the look he was giving her. “Um, yeah. His Holo is posing as FBI . . .” She gave a wince that had nothing to do with pain. “He’s, ah . . . he’s probably looking for me. I tried to comm him during the fight with my Uncle, but . . . Ah, well, you saw what happened.”

It was all Barricade could do to process this new information.

Prowl was here. He vaguely remembered Thundercracker telling him so, in what seemed like a whole lifetime ago, but hadn’t truly believed him. The reality of it hit him with all the force of a crashing shuttle.

Prowl was the Autobot assigned to Jodi, had been the one talking to her.

Prowl was _looking_ for Jodi.

He could work with this. He didn’t _like it,_ but he could work with it.

“Where’s your comm unit? Is it with you?”

The little human looked startled. “No, I lost it back at the house. Why?”

“Frag.” His mind raced, glancing over the facts and trying desperately to form some sort of plan. There was one, but he didn’t like it.

Unfortunately he didn’t see an alternative.

Barricade disengaged his signal dampener and did a wide broadcast with coding he had convinced himself he would never use again. He didn’t have a right to use it.

He sent a prayer to the wind and floored it, hoping that he would _listen_.           

“Hold on Jodi.”

 

 

Prowl had concluded that Jodi Hunter was an increasingly frustrating creature. Everything that he has dealt with involving the girl, from his meetings with her to the crime scenes she had vacated, inevitably left him with far more questions than answers.

Also, she was oddly unpredictable. When dealing with most humans he had come to expect a certain level of spontaneity, and so became more aware and open to the challenges that came with their way of thinking. But there was usually still some pattern to their behavior, obvious lines of thought and conclusion, types of cause and effect.

He had yet to find Jodi’s pattern, if the youngling had one at all.

Prowl found that incredibly aggravating.

His Holoform stood just inside the entryway to the kitchen making only a token attempt to keep clear of the officers dusting the scene. They had barked at him when he picked up the battered Blackberry, screeching something about tampering with the evidence. But he paid them no mind and tucked the item away, taking possession of the item for the second time that day.

He surveyed the scene before him, trying to piece together what had happened here.

Four minutes.

He had been surprised that Jodi had commed him so soon after parting ways, and had rushed to her location when the transmission had been cut before she had even spoken a word. But he had heard her scream. It had only taken four minutes to arrive, but even then he was too slow and the girl was gone.

What had happened in those four minutes?

The Uncle was very vocal, and had been quick to inform anyone who would listen about his rendition of events. He claimed that the man, that he had identified as Jodi’s original kidnapper, had broken in and taken her once more. Mr. Hunter spoke of how he tried to protect his niece, but the assailant had pulled a kitchen knife on him and then tossed him across the room.

Prowl didn’t believe him.

There was proof enough for the police to buy it at a glance. There was no doubt that he had been thrown, the shattered remains of the table and bits of glass imbedded into the man’s back and side was proof enough.

But once the paramedics arrived Prowl noticed that the cut across his chest didn’t correspond with his story.

From the photos and surveillance footage he had seen, Barricade’s Holoform was tall and broad, and the cut was made too low to line up with Mr. Hunter’s description. Never mind the fact that Barricade was highly skilled with a blade, as Prowl was reminded this past winter with the eviscerated gang member. Yet Mr. Hunter was still very much alive with all limbs and organs present and accounted for.

There was also the fact that Barricade’s energy signature, while present on the cracked front door and lingering still on Mr. Hunter himself, was nowhere near the knife.

Prowl was willing to bet good high-grade that the prints on the knife would match that of the little missing human.

That still didn’t explain what had happened.

During their talk Jodi had seemed so convinced that Barricade had abandoned her completely. What had prompted him to come back if that was the case? How long had he been lingering in the area? Why had none of them detected him during their patrols?

The whole thing was beyond frustrating and was making his processor ache.

It was then a distress signal came across his general sensors and demanded his attention. The signal was outdated and long since obsolete, using old Enforcer code that Prowl hadn’t heard since his days on Cybertron. But there it was, where every Bot or Con within a fifty mile radius could detect it, the sender not even bothering with even basic encryption.

After Prowl recovered from the shock, he actually _listened_ to the details of the signal.

_Under Hostile Fire. Requesting Immediate Back Up. Youngling Caught In Crossfire._

Youngling.

_Youngling._

Jodi.

Given that there were only a handful of mechs left who had served in the Enforcers, Prowl had no doubts to the identity of the sender.

 _This is a trap,_ the rational part of him said. _They are using her as bait._ He _is using her as bait._

“You getting this Prowl?”

At the sound of his voice, Prowl was reminded that he had Bluestreak waiting one street over, with the twins, First Aid and a small human task force on standby.

His Holoform retreated back to his alt mode to make a show of the FBI agent leaving the scene. He was sure the police were happy to see him go.

He replied as he pulled away from the curb. “Yes, I’m getting it.”

“Well? What do you think? Trap? Sounds like a trap, but then again I could be wrong.”

As he rounded the corner a grey and blue Challenger fell in line behind him.

Instead of answering Prowl threw out a long-range scan, not really knowing what to expect. What he got was not one but two Decepticon signatures five miles out of Palo Alto and steadily making there way north.

He would know Barricade’s signature anywhere.

 _You can’t trust this,_ he reminded himself. _You can’t trust him. The last time you did you were lucky he didn’t pierce your spark chamber._

But it was more than just them at risk this time, and Prowl still felt like he was missing pieces to this particular puzzle. Young Jodi’s life could be on the line while he sat here overanalyzing and arguing with himself.

“Uh, Prowl? Hello! Prowl, are you listening?”

With the squeal of burning rubber, Prowl took off, leaving Bluestreak scrambling to catch up.

Decision made, he opened a comm line to the others and gave the orders.

 

 

Taking the off-ramp onto the smaller freeway had been a bad idea.

The road itself was narrow and winding as it twisted deeper and deeper into the hills. It was a two lane affair with very little shoulder and to top it off there was still some lingering backup from rush hour traffic. Barricade used his alt mode to his full advantage, sirens blaring and lights blazing, watching as the humans tried to dart out of their way. And when they didn’t . . . well, those humans were none of his concern, and as it stood he couldn’t afford to care about the possible trail of accidents he was leaving behind.

Soundwave kept pace with them doggedly, a bit behind, but never loosing them from view. Barricade counted them lucky that the older mech had not open fired yet, and was apparently trying to stay as discreet as possible.

There was no guarantee that their luck would hold out.

He needed to buy them time, needed to allow the Autobots a chance to catch up to them. That is, if the Autobots were actually coming.

 _They’re coming_ , Barricade told himself firmly, not allowing himself to believe otherwise. Because if he was wrong, both he and Jodi were dead and it would be his fault.

It would be another failure in an incredibly long list of them.

After an eternity they emerged from the hills and into a tiny coastal town where yet another two-lane highway intersected with the one they were on. But this one was a long, flat stretch of road with plenty of room beside either lane and only a small handful of cars in sight.

One more lucky break.

Barricade was determined to make it count.

Barreling through a red light, Barricade drifted into a hard left and floored it, pouring all his energy into putting some distance between them and the ever present Soundwave. He had never been gladder in his life that the Decepticon officer had never been the fastest of mechs, instead relying on strength and tactics.

As they pulled away on the wide open road, Jodi twisted in her seat to watch the van shrink into the distance. She sighed and slunk back into her usual position. “That was close.”

“It’s not over yet.”

“Who the Hell is it?”

“Soundwave,” Barricade replied as he pushed himself even faster, observing the landscape as it flew by, hoping to find terrain he could use. “Decepticon communications officer, and _not_ someone we can deal with even if I wasn’t injured.”

“But we lost him, right?”

“Jodi, you don’t understand. With Soundwave, there is no running away. You said Prowl was looking for you, right?”

“I said ‘probably looking for me’. I don’t think I’m his favorite person right about now.”

 _Well, that makes two of us._ “Doesn’t matter. I sent out a distress signal. All we have to do is stall Soundwave long enough for him to find us.”

That sounded so easy to his audios. He wished that he were convincing himself.

About five miles out of the town the highway made a sharp turn, creating a blind corner at the top of a steep cliff face that dropped down to an abandoned beach. There were tall trees on the other side of the road, and all up and down were deep patches of tall bushes thick enough to keep the local wildlife from view.

Or hide one small human.

Barricade felt it was as good as he was going to get.

He skidded to a halt in the turnout, kicking up a cloud of dust and sand. His passenger door swung open and he shoved at Jodi with his Holo, forcing her from his cab.

She stumbled to her feet and turned to face him, eyes wide with fear. “’Cade, what are you doing?”

As soon as she was clear he transformed and leveled his human with a stare. “Hide yourself and if you see an opportunity, run.”

“I’m not leav-”

“Jodi, _now_!”

He thanked Primus when Jodi’s mouth snapped shut and she actually did what she was told. He spared her one last glance as she darted across the road and disappeared into the trees.

If she managed to get away, if she somehow _survived_ , this would be worth it.

He cycled air once to steady himself, leveled a blaster at the corner and waited for Soundwave to come to him.

Barricade didn’t have to wait long.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters 18-22 are what I refer to as "The Day of Hell". There is a lot that happened in this part of the story along with a lot of character information that I couldn't properly share withing the restrictions of Disregarded. There are a few deliberately left plot-holes that were left in this time frame as well. The next installment of The Wayward Ones verse "On the Flip Side" fills these gaps and sets up some major plot points for Jodi and the gang for future fics. I hope you continue to enjoy the ride. Carry on.

Today couldn’t be more fucked up in Jodi’s humble opinion.

Today her whole world decided to fall apart, unraveling at seams she hadn’t even known were fraying. She had been harassed, threatened, and attacked. She had been offered assistance from someone she didn’t trust, and then rescued by someone she was convinced had left her for good. She had been riding an emotional roller coaster all day, concern, fury, terror, loyalty, and resentment all taking a hold of her in turns over the course of a few measly hours.

Everything had spun out of control so fast, it had left her reeling and wanting to scream at the world to just _stop_!

But she couldn’t afford to have a meltdown yet; there would be plenty of time for that later.

If they were alive later.

If this Soundwave guy didn’t finish what her Uncle tried to do not even an hour ago.

_Oh God, how is this my life?_

At Barricade’s order, Jodi ran up the hill and into the thick line of pine trees. It wasn’t as easy as it should have been, since it was hard to move fast without moving her broken right wrist. That, and it was hard to keep one foot in front of the other when the ground sometimes felt like it was tilting.

She had a sneaking suspicion that she had a concussion.Fan-freaking- _tastic_.

Jodi found an old toppled tree and was quick to decide to use it as cover, using her good arm to vault over the trunk. She cursed her school uniform as the material of her skirt got caught on the bark, scratching her legs on the way down.

She briefly wished for her old torn jeans and her battered sneakers.

Jodi hunkered down behind her log and peered over the top. She couldn’t see much from here, but through some breaks in the trees she could see splashes of pavement and the sandy shoulder on the other side of the road that rose into a kind of natural guard rail before dropping (supposedly) to the ocean below. It was hard to make out much detail besides that. The sun was slowly sinking on the horizon, and the glare from the water was painful of she stared too long.

But she refused to turn away completely.

Jodi could make out Barricade, standing in his true form with some sort of weapon at the ready. She heard the squeal of tires and Barricade moved, thick branches now blocking him from view. The dirt below her shook as _something_ went boom and that strange electronic sound that seemed to come when a Cybertronian transformed.

She could only see snippets of the fight, leaving her to piece together what was happening on her own.

The ground shook again, more violently, and this time Jodi could see a small portion of the road explode.

Jodi’s heart hammered painfully behind her ribs as Barricade came back into her line of sight, tackling a larger purple Cybertronian to the dirt and grappling for some sort of weapon. Her eyes widened as the two of them tumbled in a heap of twisting metal and rolled right over the edge and disappeared.

_Barricade!_

Her legs were carrying her back down the hill and across the road before she realized she had told them to do so, the sudden spike of adrenaline keeping her temporarily numb. She skidded to a halt at the top of the dirt rise, straining her good eye as she tried to spot them.

The slope itself blocked her sight, the hill steep but not sheer, sloping out and then down. Jodi could see a beach down below her, more of an alcove really, but she couldn’t see the base of the hill. Sounds from the fight were carried up to her, metal screeching, a strange hum before yet another tremor vibrated beneath her feet, but she couldn’t _see anything!_

She took a step forward, closer to the edge, halting as her foot slipped in the loose dirt, the lack of tread on her shoes nearly sending her down. Worried, Jodi bit her lip.

 _He told you to hide,_ she reminded herself. _He told you to run until Prowl came._

But what if he didn’t come?

From what she could tell, some pretty bad blood ran between Prowl and Barricade and it was obvious that the Autobot wasn’t ready to forget it. So, ‘Cade could say what he wanted but Jodi wasn’t so sure she believed that help was on the way.

Or . . . what if it did, but Barricade didn’t make it?

Hesitation held her for only for a moment, just long enough to ditch her shoes and socks, and then she was barreling down the steep hillside. There was a surfer trail that cut a path through the harsh plants that called this hill home, and Jodi followed it down. The earth beneath her was sandy and deep and she soon realized it was easier to slide down on her heels, using her left arm for balance and to slow her decent.

Halfway down Jodi was finally able to see the fight.

She slowed to a stop and hid between some bushes, staring down at the two of them.

Jodi remembered the fight with the monstrous black truck. Back then she thought that Barricade had been ridiculously outgunned, especially when his repairs were only marginally complete. But at least there had been a true exchange of blows, most of Barricade’s disadvantage obviously coming from his injuries.

What she was seeing now was nothing like that.

For every attack made, for every shot fired, Soundwave was already in motion to neutralize it. It was almost like watching a cat toying with an injured mouse, nothing more than a predator playing with it’s snack before killing it.

The imagery from that made Jodi’s stomach churn.

Movement above her caught her attention, peeling her eyes from the fight and up to the summit above her.

Her heart leapt at the sight of a matching set of red and yellow Cybertronians standing at the crest of the hill, obviously armed, and accompanied by a handful of humans equally armed and wearing some sort of uniform. The men were quickly and efficiently spreading out, scanning their surroundings. It was obvious that they were looking for her.

Her joy subsided a bit when she realized the two bots weren’t moving.

_Why are they just standing there?_

She flitted her attention between the group above and the fight still going on down below. Maybe they couldn’t see them?

Just as the thought flitted across her mind, the bright glint of _something_ caught her eye. There, posted at the edge of the sheer cliff on the other side of the cove was another Cybertronian hiding among the trees there, some sort of rifle aimed and at the ready. She would have missed him completely if the setting sun hadn’t reflected off of him, it was clear that he would be invisible to anyone in a lower position while giving him an unhindered view of the whole area.

A perfect sniper location.

In a cold moment of clarity, Jodi realized they wouldn’t interfere. They would just sit there and let Barricade be _slaughtered_ before they lifted a finger to help.

They would rescue her but were content to leave Barricade to die.

_Well, fuck that._

Resolve solidified in her chest, and her heart beat faster. Adrenaline spread through her veins, pushing down the throbbing in her skull and agony of her wrist.

The two of them had been through _too damn much_ to call it quits now. Yeah, she was pissed as hell that Barricade had ditched her in the first place, left her like everyone else in her life, but he had _come back_. As bizarre as the whole thing was, he was _family_ , the _only_ family she had left, and she would be damned to _Hell_ before she lost him too!

 _We’re leaving here together_ , she vowed even as she sent a tiny prayer to whoever was listening, praying that they would make it.

She emerged from her hiding spot and slid the rest of the way down the hill, ignoring the men as they called to her.

Below her she saw Soundwave finally get bored and pin Barricade to the sand. Her vision tunneled as bladed fingers pierced Barricade’s chest plate. The sound wrenched from him drowned out everything else.

And she moved, grabbing the only weapon she could find, knowing full well all she could offer was a distraction.

_We’re leaving here together or not at all._

 

          

Soundwave was clearly enjoying prolonging his pain.

Barricade grunted when his back slammed into the sand. His vents cycled hard as he tried to work through the pain, but he was dizzy with energon loss and he hadn’t seen so many system warnings on his HUD since is time in paralysis back when Jodi first found him. Before he could even attempt to defend himself Soundwave moved.

The claw punctured his armor and deep into his chassis, digging deeper towards his spark chamber.

It was then that Barricade realized he was screaming.

“Hey! _Asshole_!”

Barricade saw the green bottle soar into the back of his assailant’s head, showering them both with tiny shards of glass. Soundwave turned just enough for him to get a clear view of Jodi, tiny battered Jodi, standing defiantly in his defense with tears streaming down her reddened face.

 _No, no no no! Don’t just stand there!_ His mind screamed. _Run!_

More pain shot through him as Soundwave wrenched his hand free, turning towards his human.

Jodi’s face drained of all color as a plasma cannon was leveled at her.

“NO!”

With everything he had, he kicked upwards, making the shot go wide.

Barely.

And still she stood, frozen.

“ _Move_ you glitchmouse!” he roared, scrambling to his peds.

Suddenly shaken from her stupor, she fled up the dune, stumbling over herself in her haste. Her feet sunk into the loose sand, making her slow.

Soundwave recovered just as she reached the crest and made a lunge for her, clawed hand outstretched. Barricade grabbed what he could of the other mech, dragging him back. He was vaguely aware of Jodi tumbling over the far side of the dune and out of sight.

The whole world froze as a single shot rang out.

Barricade stared dumbly at the smoldering hole in Soundwave’s shoulder.

The telepath glared at him through his visor. “Reinforcements: Unexpected.”

Barricade grunted as the older mech shook him off to make a hasty retreat, sand spraying in his wake.

It took a moment for him to register that his enemy was gone. But when it did, fear settled firmly in his processor.

“Jodi?” he called. But there was no response.

He lost track of her when she fell. He struggled to stand and staggered his way to the dune where he had seen her last.

“Jodi!”

He spotted her at the bottom of the slope, nothing more than a crumpled heap on the beach. The surrounding sand was red.

She wasn’t moving.

His spark ached as he remembered her crash, her unconscious body slumped in the driver’s seat. Then it broke as he realized this was so much worse.

He rushed to her side and fell to his knees, bright red optics surveyed the expanse of her new injuries. Her back was laid open in three diagonal lines, displaying layers of muscle and tissue. Sand had packed deep into the wounds, and Barricade could see something white under the sea of red.

Blood was everywhere.

Primus, was she even _breathing_?

His holographic emitter was almost shot, but still he projected his avatar next to her, the image staticy and unstable. “Jodi, _Jodi_! Come on, wake up!”

Out of habit, he reached for her, only to howl in frustration as he phased right through her. He let go of his Holo and carefully scooped her up in his own clawed hands. Gently as he could manage, lifted her up to cradle her against his mangled chassis. Being mindful of the energon leaking from his wounds, Barricade kept her close to his spark and listened.

She was breathing.

But he didn’t know how much longer she would be.

“Release the human, Decepticon!”

Barricade lifted his optics away from Jodi’s limp frame, and realized that he was being surrounded by nearly half a dozen Autobots. Acutely aware of the weapons leveled in his direction, he shakily rose to his peds. He clutched his human closer, trying to ignore the excess of blood dripping down his plating.

What did it matter now? They had arrived too late.

“Let her go Barricade.”

Something inside him shattered.

It had been many vorns since he had last heard that voice. He remembered the last time he had seen the other mech, expression twisted with shock and betrayal.

He turned then, picking out the one neutral face in a sea of hostile expressions. Level blue optics calmly met his, giving nothing away. “There is nowhere left to run.”

“Prowl.” He hated how rough his voice sounded to his own audios. “You’re late.”

Prowl tipped his head slightly to the side, the way he used to when he made progress on a particularly difficult puzzle. “The distress signal. How did you know we would respond?”

In answer he took a staggering step forward and was met with the hum of several charging rifles.

“Hold your fire. All of you.” Prowl held his men off with a raised hand, eyeing Barricade warily over his own raised weapon.

“I didn’t know. Not for sure. I hoped . . .” Slowly Barricade finished closing the distance, stepping forward deliberately into the muzzle of Prowl’s firearm. Blue optics flickered, taking note of the exposed spark chamber. “ _Do it,_ ” he whispered harshly, so low that only Prowl could hear him. “No one would blame you. You know me better than any other mech alive. We both know I deserve this and more.”

 _I’ve failed,_ Barricade thought. Harshly. Truthfully. _I’ve failed them both._

“Barricade?” Prowl questioned, suddenly unsure.

“But there’s on thing I ask. The _only_ thing I’ll ask. Prowl . . .” He slowly took the Autobot’s free hand and carefully handed over Jodi’s limp form. “ _Brother._ Jodi. You can’t let her die. She’s . . . I couldn’t . . . ”

He broke off, choking on the words. It was the closest he had ever come to begging.

One glance at the girl had Prowl reacting instantly. He barked out orders leaving the surrounding mechs scrambling to obey. Several heavily armed humans Barricade hadn’t noticed rushed forward to help with Jodi.

With nothing else left to fight for, whatever energy that had been fueling him until now drained from his body. The sounds surrounding him began to blur together, and he swayed where he stood.

He thought he heard someone yelling at him as the ground rushed up to meet him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so ends the Day of Hell. G'night folks, see you all tomorrow!


	23. Chapter 23

Prowl stood quietly out of the way in one of the Medbay’s few abandoned corners, cold blue optics surveying the activity before him. The other side of the room was in complete chaos. Human and Cybertronian medics alike scurried about the room, rushing to save two lives.

First Aid and a few assistants took up one side of the room, working to stabilize Barricade. It had been touch and go for a while there. With an obscenely long list of injuries on top of a cracked spark chamber, he would have been a highly sensitive patient even under the best of conditions. Luckily, his vitals were slowly making their way towards more normal ranges, which was very promising.

Prowl wished he could be as hopeful with the human’s prognosis.

At the center of it all was Ratchet and two human surgeons, the trio hunched over the tiny body spread face down on an operation table. The machines around them blipped and hummed. Ratchet barked orders. In response, one of the surgeons just shook his head while he was wrist deep in spinal tissue.

He had no clue how they had made the trip all the way back to base, and something in his spark twisted when he remembered that they almost _hadn’t_.

Sparks were highly sensitive, and when there was any damage to the casing you ran a high risk of complications.

And then there was Jodi, who had to be resuscitated twice in that first terrifying hour, and who no one expected to survive.

The medics were all astounded that she had survived at all. She had lost too much blood, they said, and had gone into severe shock. Prowl remembered being screamed at by one angry doctor, the woman demanding to know why a patient with not one, but _three_ , spinal injuries had been handled like a ragdoll. Due to the rough treatment they had apparently made it worse.

They said there was a very low chance she’s pull through even with transfusions and the best medical minds Earth and Cybertron had to offer.

But by Primus, the girl was still clinging to life, and all Prowl could do was watch and pray.

He was exhausted, and honestly couldn’t remember when he last recharged, but he refused to leave. Even Ratchet couldn’t get him to budge. The irritable mech had snarled and threatened, but soon conceded on the grounds that he would keep out of the way. And so he stayed, determined to see this through.

Prowl didn’t understand.

The day replayed itself over and over, set on repeat where he could examine and analyze what had happened.

Upon arrival to the scene, the tactician had ordered his team to move in cautiously as Bluestreak found a good vantage point. They had spread out, the humans searching for the girl while Prowl took in the situation.

The two well-known Decepticons grappled down on the beach. Prowl saw the familiar form of Barricade for the first time in _vorns_ , form twisted with damage and war modifications, but still recognizable. Conflicting emotions had roiled within him as his processor spun, trying to come to a clear consensus.

As Prowl tried to ignore the screams from his estranged brother, Bluestreak’s voice had carried over his comm line, asking for clear orders and permission to fire.

The human soldiers had started shouting then, locating the girl only to have her run from them, sliding down the slope and onto the beach.

What happened next had been astounding.

Even now he can’t shake the vision Jodi had made then, once she had successfully gained Soundwave’s attention. Because there she had stood, so tiny, frail, and _human_ , clearly throwing her life away for her alleged kidnapper. For a Decepticon. For a _killer._ But then Barricade was shouting and had _lunged_ , optics wide and desperate as he narrowly saved her from a cannon blast. Heard the panic in his voice as ordered her to run.

The tone stirred old memories, reminding Prowl the words hissed in his audio after being stabbed by the one he trusted above all others. Words that for eons he thought had been said in twisted triumph.

_“Now stay down.”_

And still Blue’s question rang like a bell over the comm line.

Shaken from his memories, he had ordered the sniper to take his shot.

They had let Soundwave go, their priorities more focused on Jodi than apprehending the Decepticon. Once they were clear, Prowl and his team had finally moved in.

And there, on a nameless beach on a planet so far from home, he confronted his brother for the first time since Cybertron fell.

Prowl had expected many things from this encounter, overdue as it was. He had thought of so many different possibilities, scenarios, and his processor came up with the most logical things to expect from Barricade. Anger. Arrogance. Contempt. Hatred.

But that wasn’t what he had been presented with. Not even close.

The mech that stood before him had been a broken thing, resigned to his fate, as if there was nothing left for him in the universe. Energon dripped steadily down ruined dermal plating, mingling with streaks of human blood as he held the girl closer to himself looking lost and desperate as he acknowledged the Autobots surrounding him. He swayed where he stood, but there he remained until Prowl spoke.

When his voice carried to damaged audios, Barricade had turned towards him and it was almost like something inside him crumpled. The expression was such a subtle thing, that without years of familiarity Prowl would have never caught it.

They spoke, Barricade’s words bitter and despondent and almost unrecognizable.

When Barricade submitted himself on his blaster, Prowl felt his spark sputter behind his casing as if it knew it’s twin was just a breath away from deactivation. The bond had long since been severed, but it would seem that remnant still remained after all this time.

He had pleaded for the girl’s life, handing her over as if she was a coveted possession and Prowl was the only being in existence that could be trusted with her.

What an awful joke.

Prowl forcefully brought himself back to the present when one of the human medics started shouting when one of the machines attached to Jodi stopped beeping to give a single long shrieking note.

As assistance rushed towards the center of the room another cry rose from First Aid as he struggled to pin a now convulsing Barricade. Being the only Cybertronian present large enough to assist him, Prowl ran forward. He weighed down Barricade’s legs while First Aid worked to stabilize him.

Prowl held on tightly as chaos continued to rein around.

He didn’t understand how it had come to this, after everything that had happened. He hoped he would get the chance to understand.

If he knew _anything_ , he knew that Jodi and Barricade were both amazingly stubborn creatures.

He prayed it would be enough.


	24. Chapter 24

Jodi felt strange.

Everything felt fuzzy and heavy, like her whole world had been wrapped in thick cotton. It made it difficult to feel anything, and as she tried to shake the weight of it she found both her mind and her body were hazy. Both were slow to react, like the signal was delayed.

There was a strange noiseless hum that seemed to be circulating through her limbs, the thrum of it in pulsing in tune with every slow heartbeat.

She dragged a hand up to rub at her chest only to have something hard bump into her ribs. Bleary green eyes fluttered open, her good eye coming into focus on a thick white cast that had apparently swallowed her right hand and about half her forearm.

She had a moment of confusion before her last memories came flooding back. Images flashed across her mind, exploding sand, and the glow of spilled energon.

Jodi bolted to full awareness with the ghost of Barricade’s scream echoing in her ears.

She launched herself forward, fighting the tangle of blankets and gasping when something yanked sharply on the back of her left hand. Her pulse quickened at the sight of an IV and a second unknown tube that was imbedded into her skin.

She lifted the offending limb, but before she could rip them out with her teeth hands were on her, pinning her arm back against the bed and pushing her back into the stiff mattress beneath her.

“Whoa, whoa, _whoa_! Take it easy there kid.”

Jodi took several deep gulps of air to try to calm herself. When her breath evened out, she followed the arms up to their owner. She blinked at the familiar face, taking in angled brown eyes and dark auburn hair. She glanced down at the hand still pinning her left hand and made a realization.

“You’re not a Holoform.”

He rocked back away from her, his mouth hanging open. Several different expressions flitted quickly across his face, before he chuckled. “Yeah, no on that one. Prowl said something about you outing him with a touch, but I didn’t really believe him. How you feeling?”

“That a trick question?”

Jodi lifted her head a little to get a better look at her surroundings. The bed she was on seemed nestled to the side of a much larger room filled with a strange mix of medical equipment, unknown machines, and what liked to be exam tables ranging from the garden human variety to huge metal slabs. The whole place seemed like someone took a hospital and a high tech garage and smashed it together.

She blinked. “Where the hell am I?”

Her companion gave her a lopsided grin and made a sweeping gesture at the surrounding room. “Welcome to the Autobot Base, home to stuffy human military and giant robot aliens alike. Also known as Middle of Nowhere, Nevada.You’re currently residing in the Medbay. You remember me, kid?”

She nodded and swallowed, noticing absently that her throat was dry. “Agent Tanaka, right?”

He winced, and dragged over a chair and plopped down beside her. “ _Officer_ Tanaka, actually, but I’m off duty, so none of that. The name’s Riley.”

Jodi’s lips twitched. The FBI agent turned out to be a simple cop, and the busted cop car she found turned out to be something so much more.

She sobered at the reminder of who was missing. “Where’s Barricade?”

The grin fell from Riley’s face. Fear shot through Jodi, the strength of it pushing away the lingering cotton surrounding her body. She pushed herself upright, ignoring a twinge in her back and Riley’s protest, batting his hand away with her cast when he tried to get her to lie back down.

“Jodi, calm down.”

“No!” she barked, dry throat rasping. “Where is he? Is he- he can’t be-”

“He’s fine,” he assured her quickly. “Ratchet gave him a clean bill of health, so they moved him down to the brig three days ago.”

That brought her up short. “Three days ago?” she echoed. “How long have I been here?”

“Twelve days. You’ve been in a coma for ten.” He smiled then, looking genuinely relieved. “Frankly, I’m just happy you’re awake. You had some of us worried.” 

She felt a pang of something, but it was drowned out by her worry for the missing cop car. “Show me where Barricade is. I need to see him.”

Riley blanched a bit. “I don’t think-”

“I don’t care what you think!” she snarled. “Last I remember, you’re buddies were just _standing there_ while ‘Cade was having his ass handed to him! So excuse me if I don’t believe you when you tell me that he’s _fine_!”

“You are in no condition to be going anywhere,” a new voice interrupted.

She turned to glare at the newcomer, craning her neck back when she saw it was a garishly colored Cybertronian. Not fazed at all, she turned her agitation on him. “And who the hell are you?”

“My designation is Ratchet, and I am the Chief Medical Officer on this base. You are not allowed to leave Medbay until I have cleared you to do so.”

 _That_ pissed her off quicker than anything, her temper just as volatile as it was the last time she was concious. “I’m not _allowed?_ Screw you! I’m not part of . . . of, whatever the hell this is!” Ignoring him and the now-pale Riley, she moved to roll off the bed and onto her feet.

Her legs buckled. Riley swooped forward and caught her when she stumbled, obviously trying hard not to tangle the lines still trailing from her arm.

Ratchet, the bastard, just stood there and watched her flounder. “As I said; you are in no condition to be going anywhere. As miraculous as your survival is, you are still recovering from several large and experimental surgeries. I would prefer that you took it easy. Being stubborn about it will only harm yourself.”

Jodi used Riley’s grip on her to steady herself, and then used the leverage to get her legs more firmly beneath her. It took a few tries, but she got it.  But it felt strange, like she was learning to use a new set of muscles. There was also something tugging along her back. “What the hell is wrong with me?”

“Your body is still adjusting to the implants. Given that we had to do complete reconstruction of several vertebrae, the fact you can move your legs at all is impressive and very promising. It means your body is accepting the technology. We have had difficulty with compatibility before, so we were not sure that they would take.”

Jodi stared up at Ratchet, then Riley. She heard the words. She did. But they weren’t translating properly, because there was no way _that_ was what he was implying. When she found her voice it was faint. “Is he serious?”

Riley sighed heavily, and gave the mech a sidelong glance. “Way to go Ratch.” Jodi let man maneuver her so that she was sitting back on the hospital bed, staring at him as he patted her shoulder before sitting back down in his chair. He rubbed his jaw before clasping his hands together and letting them dangle between his knees. “Jodi, you have to understand how bad you were when they brought you on base. From what I heard, Soundwave severed your spine in three locations. I don’t think I need to tell you that damage was . . . well, way past what a regular surgeon could ever hope to repair. Lucky for you, Ratchet here and a few of the military doctors have been collaborating for a while now.”

“I think we have different definitions for the word ‘lucky’,” she mumbled. Trying her best to absorb everything, Jodi slowly drew up her legs and carefully folded them beneath her. She hunched forward to rest her arms in her lap, but when she felt the tugging again along her back she realized she was pulling on _stitches._ She straitened her posture and resisted the sudden need to reach back and feel them, as if she could convince herself that they didn’t exist unless she touched them.

Ratchet shifted where he stood, the small movement making a soft whirr. He crossed his arms. “Given the circumstances, I would say you and your wayward Decepticon are two of the luckiest beings currently on this planet. Honestly, I have no idea how we didn’t lose either of you. Both of you were critical while in transit.”

Jodi flinched at the word _critical_. “But he’s fine right? Riley said you guys patched him up.”

The bot seemed aggravated then, lifting his optics skyward like a man looking to heaven for assistance. “Of course we did, although how he was functional enough to take on a mech of Soundwave’s caliber is a medical mystery. The sheer amount of time we spent re-doing old repairs was simply astounding. Barricade may be many things, but field medic certainly isn’t one of them.”

Jodi felt a new flicker of annoyance at the criticism. She and Barricade had spent a lot of time and effort into his repairs, working with the meager tools they had available. Barricade had been isolated with no equipment and only an undersized human teenager to rely on. Sure, it had been easier when they got his Holoform fully up and running, but they were only able to do so much.

Ratchet continued his rant, completely unaware his patient was getting more aggravated with every word.

“-and then there’s the welding on the main energon lines. I have no clue how he managed _those_ by himself, but the workmanship is atrocious. I can’t-”

“Those were mine.” The words were defensive and had tumbled out of Jodi’s mouth before she could think better of it.

 She specifically remembered doing those welds, back in the early days before they were ghosts on the highway. They were the first things Barricade had her work on when his Holoform had first activated, and were one of the few repairs that he didn’t reinforce once he was capable of a solid form.

That, and they were the same lines she had slipped and hurt herself on. That alone kind of made them hard to forget.

The memory making her self-concious, Jodi hid the shiny pink burn scar against her thigh even as she glared up at the mech.

Ratchet had faltered mid-sentence, bright blue optics suddenly focusing on her. “Excuse me?”

“Those welds you were talking about? ‘Cade didn’t do those. I did.”

“You _what?_ ” Ratchet stood there, apparently floored. “But that’s . . .” He trailed off into silence for a moment before he was suddenly spurred into action. He strode across the Medbay and began tapping his digits against a gigantic glass panel, which instantly lit up at the first touch. It soon became obvious that it was some sort of touch-screen computer, bright green and blue colored data and diagrams flashing and scrolling faster than Jodi could comprehend. His fingers flew frantically across the interface, zipping through more and more information before one window opened and settled above the others. It was some sort of blueprint with more than a dozen red dots blinking on the screen.

The Chief Medical Officer stared at the screen for several long moments before swearing and turning to pin Jodi with wide-opticed look.

Jodi gave a dry swallow under the sudden scrutiny, and tried not to squirm.

With a swipe of his hand the computer grew dim. Ratchet jabbed finger at Jodi. “You! Stay here, and don’t do anything to agitate your injuries any further!” He turned that same finger at Riley and Jodi watched as the man suddenly looked ready to bolt. “And _you_ make sure she stays where she’s supposed to!”

And with that, the mech turned on his heel. The two humans stared in open amazement as Ratchet pratically sprinted from the Medbay, the large doors sliding shut behind him.

Jodi turned to look at Riley, but the man was wearing the same confused expression she was.

“I have no clue what just happened.” Riley admitted. He rubbed at his chin before giving the teen beside him an odd look. “I can’t believe what I just saw that. Kid, you have more _guts_ than almost anyone else on this base, giant alien robots included.”

“What, why?”

“You just made the Hatchet flee his own lair. I have no clue _how_ , but news of _that_ little fact is going to spread faster than a summer grass fire. Everyone with common sense here has a healthy amount of fear for Ratchet’s temper and his aim with thrown objects. Expect exaggerated rumors to be flying around by tomorrow. The residents here are world-class gossips when the mood strikes them.”

Jodi couldn’t help but frown at the weird picture that painted in her mind. She rubbed her throat absently even as she asked. “What kind of military base is this?”

The man dug around under his chair, flashing her a wide smile and offering her a bottle of water. “The most unorthodox one on the planet,” he promised.

Jodi took the bottle gratefully, popping the top and downing half the contents in one go. It was room temperature, bordering on warm, but _damn_ did it feel good on her poor throat. She gave a satisfied sigh through her nose as she set the bottle down in her lap.

In the wake of Ratchet’s unexpected exit, an awkward silence settled in.

Jodi tried to absorb her situation and the information she had just been given. Seeing as she didn’t think she would get any more info on Barricade quite yet, she asked about the other big thing currently eating at her.

She cleared her throat to make sure she had Riley’s attention. “ _So_ . . . alien implants, huh?”

“It’s got to be better than being paralyzed from the waist down,” he offered. “Or dead.”

There was that, but it was kind of hard to shake the thought of space metal sitting _in her body._ At some point she was sure she would learn the specifics, but currently the mere thought of it creeped her out and gave her imagination too much raw material to work with. Better not to think too much on it, and try to ignore the feeling of her stitches stretching and pulling at her skin every time she shifted.

Instead she focused on Riley, and watched as he seemed to struggle with whatever was on his mind. He debated for a few minutes before he jut blurted out the question that was burning his tongue.

“Did you seriously play doctor to a broken Decepticon?”

“Yeah, well, it wasn’t like I knew the friggin’ car I found was _alive_ ,” she grumped, suddenly tired and trying her best to settle back into a position that didn’t bother her broken wrist, her back, or tug at the duel lines imbedded into her skin. “ I just . . . I dunno, I think I just needed something to _fix_.”

Looking back at all the crap that had happened to her, she couldn’t bring herself to regret finding Barricade. If she hadn’t, who knew where she would be or what would have happened to her. She certainly would have never become bold enough to be the first to attack in a fight, and she would have never been able to confront her Uncle.

No matter what anyone here could say about him, Barricade had done more than just fine-tune her larceny skills. He had given her the closest thing to a home she’s had since her parents had passed. She thought about how she was then, and could suddenly see exactly how far she had come. 

_I needed something to fix. Because it wasn’t like I could fix myself._


	25. Chapter 25

The passing of time hadn’t been this agonizingly slow in nearly a millennium.

The feeling had been bad enough in Medbay, with whole chunks of time missing as Barricade floated in and out of consciousness. Hours, _days_ , disappeared like nothing, leaving great gaping holes in his awareness that left him disoriented. It was reminiscent of his time drifting in and out of stasis lock back in that abandoned business park, but at the same time the experience was worlds apart.

This time he wasn’t lost in a sea of his own agony. In fact, he couldn’t feel his injuries at all, a testament to the work of skilled medics and proper equipment. His whole body was left comfortably numb, and with every awakening he found less and less errors pinging at him.

But even in the wake of being pain-free for the first time in over a year, his spark still ached.

Because this time there was no comforting touch of small hands to ground him as he faded in and out, and the familiar weight and warmth from his human was conspicuously absent.

But he knew Jodi was close by.

Because every time he came online he could see her lying there across the room, still as death and hooked up to a disturbing amount of machines for an organic creature. The slow rise and fall of her chest assured him that she was still alive. Sometimes he could overhear the medics talking about her amongst themselves, humans and Cybertronians alike, and occasionally he would catch snippets that actually made sense to him. Eventually he heard enough to piece some things together.

Her expectations of survival were minimal. Though they apparently tried _something_ to repair it, she was most likely paralyzed from the waist down. She had been asleep for days now and she showed no signs of waking. From what he gathered there was a possibility that she never would.

The more he heard of her status the further he withdrew into himself, wrapping himself in a blanket of apathy. He ignored the emotions lingering just on the outskirts of his thoughts, ignored the abrasive scrape of failure and the bite of fear.

They were poison and he was determined to smother the storm within him that had started brewing the moment the girl had fallen into his life. Better to bury it, anyway.

Once he became fully aware and stable enough, two things happened. First, they relocated him to the brig. Then several different mechs came to talk to him.

Or they tried to, anyway.

The visits were spread out over the course of days, some of them giving some rather sappy attempts at ‘befriending’ him. But Barricade had nothing to say to them, and so he remained mute. Sometimes they would get frustrated and storm out, while others would fall silent themselves and quietly take their leave. The faces of his enquirers soon blurred together, voices and tones blending until they were indistinguishable from one another. Even Optimus Prime himself decided to grace him with his presence once, but Barricade couldn’t remember a single thing that the mech had said to him.

Sometimes he wanted to ask about Jodi. But he disliked the thought of exposing his concern almost as much as he feared what their answer would be, and so he could never quite bring himself to ask.

It didn’t matter to him anyway.

He gave up control of his situation the moment he submitted himself to Autobot custody and willingly handed his human over to his brother. He had entrusted her to a mech he had failed almost as spectacularly as he had failed her. Alive or dead, he had satisfied his dept as much as his situation had allowed, and it was highly unlikely that he could do any more.

He was no longer obligated to do anything else.

So here he was, left sitting cross-legged on the berth of his cell, his weapons stripped and deactivated, with nothing to distract him from his own thoughts and thinly veiled lies.

Barricade was pulled from his thoughts by the soft sound of the door down the hall sliding open. He listened to the oncoming footsteps, staring resolutely at the floor in front of his cell until familiar peds came to a stop right in his field of vision.

Barricade’s optics drifted up to meet the gaze of his visitor. He held Prowl’s even stare, careful to keep his expression impassive despite the sudden churning in his spark. He hadn’t seen Prowl since that day on the beach, and if he was only just now coming to confront him then this didn’t bode well.

“I have been told that you’re being difficult. The others said you have refused to speak to anyone since they removed you from Medbay.” The tone was flat, nothing more than a simple statement of fact. He paused for a moment as if waiting for Barricade to comment. When none came he continued. “Currently, there is a debate regarding what exactly they are going to do with you. I have been excluded from the final decision for obvious reasons. A few of the others have had several suggestions, of course, but surprisingly Ratchet has been a rather strong advocate in your defense.”

Barricade resisted a snort, breaking visual contact with Prowl in favor of glaring at the wall.

He didn’t want or need an advocate. He wasn’t looking for redemption, or pardon. He wasn’t going to justify anything to the Autobots, and he certainly wasn’t looking to repent. He didn’t care what they thought about him, or about any of the decisions he had made to get where he was. None of that mattered.

They could probably pass down the order to deactivate him and he couldn’t even promise that he would fight them.

It didn’t matter at this point. _He_ didn’t matter.

There was a long silence as Prowl studied him. There was once a time where the two of them could tell at a glance the other’s emotional state, and Prowl, while usually blunt, had been very good at cutting to the heart of the matter.

“The girl is alive.”

Apparently it was a skill he had retained.

Barricade twitched involuntarily at the news and met his brother’s gaze once more.

Prowl gave a small nod, as if Barricade had just confirmed something by his attention alone.

“She awakened a few days ago and has been terrorizing the Medics ever since. According to Ratchet, she will make a full recovery, but it will take time.” Prowl shook his head once. “She asks about you constantly, and has been adamant in her demands to see you. If Optimus doesn’t grant her visiting rights soon I fear she might find her own way down here, injuries or no. Ratchet has his hands full by attempting to confine her to Medbay.”

 _Good luck with that one,_ he thought ruefully, even as his spark warmed at the thought of her concern. Barricade could imagine what kind of hell Jodi had been raising, and he didn’t envy anyone who tried to tell his little human what to do. Her stubbornness seemed to present itself at the most inopportune moments and given her previous displays of stupidity when it came to coming to his defense he was sure she was keeping them on their toes, if nothing else.

And he could only imagine the things that have been said to her in regards to him.

But apparently she was still siding with him. Despite being surrounded by those who could do more for her than he was capable of giving, who had saved her _life_. She was still standing by him.

 That was something.

What exactly that something _was_ he had no clue, but he tried not to dwell on it. When his spark gave a strange little pulse, he ignored it, shoving the feeling aside.

After several long moments of silence, Prowl brought him back to the present. “It was suggested that she should be returned to her remaining family.”

As soon as the words hit his audios, Barricade sobered, fury blazing to life and consuming his vision.

He launched himself at the bars of his cell, electricity crackling dangerously at the sudden contact. The resistance made him press harder and he snarled. “If anyone returns her to that _vile_ excuse for an organic, I swear to _Primus_ I’ll send them to the pit _myself_!”

His brother observed his reaction with a disgusting amount of calm. “Oh? And why is that?”

“Because that fleshbag would make a _fine_ Decepticon in his own right!”

The shift in Prowl’s expression was subtle, but it was something Barricade recognized. Something he suspected had just been confirmed, but still he pushed. “Elaborate.”

Barricade didn’t want to play this game. “According to you, Jodi is aware and fully capable of answering questions. Have her elaborate.”

“She has proven rather stubborn on the matter.” He could hear the frustration ringing in the other mech’s voice, taunt and tightly controlled. “She’ll confirm what I piece together on my own, but every time I request details she shuts down on me. This whole situation is complicated and less than desirable to begin with, but I am _trying_ to do my best to assist you both. However, I cannot do that when both of you are being so irrationally _obstinate_!” Barricade watched as he paused to cycle his vents, forcibly reining his anger in.  “You’re the one who returned her in the first place, but you were also the one to retrieve her, so you must know _something_. Ratchet is somehow under the impression that you owed a life dept to the girl, but I find it difficult to believe that you would hold yourself to such a thing. Especially given your history.”

Barricade bristled.

“Shut up,” he hissed. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.” Of course Prowl would see it like that, it _was_ what he had intended after all.

It was a cold comfort to know that it worked so well.

“Don’t I?” Prowl countered, expression frosty and daring him to say otherwise.

Barricade knew he was remembering that day back on Cybertron, the memory lying between them like a festering wound. Remembering that their broken bond still burned them both. Even after all these vorns, there were moments still where his spark still ached to reach out and reconnect with its twin, desperate to mend what had been shattered.

He swallowed as much of his pride as he could muster and made an attempt to explain himself. It was pointless to apologize, it was a millennia too late for that anyway, but he could offer an explanation, as poor as it was. It was the least he could do.

Who knew if he would be given another opportunity.

“I had already pledged my allegiance to Lord Megatron. I had vowed to follow his orders.”

“You had vows as an Enforcer.” Prowl’s words were diamond hard and just as sharp. “Or were those forgotten so easily?”

“By that point most of our brethren had joined the Decepticon ranks. If not me, then one of the others would have been the one to put a knife in your back when the orders came down.”

“Better that you deactivate me yourself, is that it?”

“Yes.” Barricade watched Prowl recoil, but continued before he could say anything. “If I recall, the puncture stopped just shy of your spark chamber. Did you think that was luck? Don’t kid yourself.” Another long stretch of silence held until Barricade broke it, words bitter and halting. “As for Jodi, I may have . . . _misread_ the situation I returned her to.”

“You misread the situation?” He could see the anger simmering just under Prowl’s stony expression. Prowl’s anger always did burn colder than Barricade’s. He crowded closer to the bars, glaring at him optic to optic. “That would imply that you cared about the situation to begin with. Did you actually consider the potential situation that you were sending her back to, or did you just panic at the close proximity of your enemies and cut out at the first opportunity?”

Barricade did his best to rein in his temper. His own anger at his mistake still burned fiercely, pulsing sharply every time he was reminded. He should have been happy that Prowl was being this protective of his human, but it felt more like pouring acid over a fresh injury. He scowled at his brother. “If I knew that she was better off taking her chances against Decepticons I wouldn’t have left her to begin with.”

“So Ratchet was correct, then.”

Barricade felt his anger bleed out at the soft edge Prowl’s voice had taken. He stepped back from the bars and settled back on the berth. He buried his face in one hand and deflated completely. He ignored the comment for the time being.

His hand fell away then and he found his voice. “Don’t you _dare_ let them send her back. I don’t care what it takes. Hate me all you want, you have that right, but don’t you _dare_ repeat my mistakes. Not on this.”

 _Not_ _with her._

Estranged as they were, Barricade locked optics with his brother, a hurricane of thoughts clouding his processor. He willed Prowl to understand.

He was never one to apologize for his decisions. Even when he had turned on Prowl, there had been a reason, a _plan_ , and even though his spark still burned at the lost connection, it had been to protect him. And it had worked.

He couldn’t say the same about Jodi. If he had reacted any slower to her scream, or hadn’t bothered to come at all she would have been gone, murdered by her own flesh and blood. He almost lost her anyway.

He couldn’t bear it if the Autobots, of all people, were the ones to deliver her back to her uncle’s care. But it wasn’t in his nature to beg, and he couldn’t swallow his pride long enough to ask for help outright.

But his brother was nothing if not intelligent.

Prowl studied him long and hard. As the silence stretched he finally gave a curt nod. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Barricade bowed his head in silent gratitude.


	26. Chapter 26

Jodi was so restless she felt like she was going to vibrate right out of her skin.

Groaning in frustration and boredom, she flopped face-down on her bed, a paperback lying next to her, discarded.

She never did have the patience for reading for the sake of reading. Jodi always found that she had a hard time losing herself in the pages, though not for lack of trying. Now an instruction manual, _that_ was a different story. Her mother had always told her that it was something that she inherited from her father. Apparently he always said if he was going to read _anything_ then something tangible had to come from it.

Sadly, the small stack of novels sitting at her bedside did absolutely nothing for her.

Jodi let loose another discontented sound before rolling over onto her back, throwing her limbs out like a starfish. She was grateful that she could finally stretch out without that awkward and uncomfortable tugging that had plagued her since she woke from her coma. The teen had been _ecstatic_ when Ratchet had finally approved the removal of her stitches.

All 225 of them.

After the sutures had come out it had taken her a few days to work up the courage to take a look at the damage. During one of her escorted trips to the showers (they learned after the first escape attempt to leave a “guard” outside the door), she sat on the sink counter and twisted to take a good look in the mirror. Three angry streaks of red cut sharply across the length of her back, with tiny dots marking where the stitches had been.

A bad as those looked, it wasn’t what had left her breathless and staring.

All across the plane of her back were fresh energon burns, the color and smoothness were a match for the single scar decorating her left forearm. But while the mark on her arm was straight and uniform in width, these varied in size and shape and reminded her disturbingly of blood spatter.

Jodi had felt her breath hitch as she realized that was basically what it was.

Now if they could just find a way to make her wrist heal faster she could be rid of her cast too.

Then maybe, just _maybe_ , she would be able to find a way out of Medbay. Then she could finally see Barricade.

The Autobots had asked her so many questions once she woke up, but half the time they didn’t really seem to listen when she told them anything. Even when she met their head honcho, Optimus Prime, none of them were _listening._ By the time Prowl came around and started inquiring about Uncle David she was already too frustrated and angry, and had clammed up quicker than you could say “hello”. If she couldn’t convince them that she would be perfectly safe with Barricade, then why would they believe her when she said her uncle was an abusive psychopath?

Once she was steady on her feet again, Jodi had tried to take matters into her own hands when she realized early on that they weren’t going to budge on the whole “no visitation rights” thing.

Mech and man alike soon learned that they couldn’t leave her unattended for terribly long before she made a break for it, injuries or no.

Once she was off the IVs they tried giving her a private room in the barracks only to find that traditional locks didn’t hold her long and electric ones were vulnerable to her tampering if she could access the wiring. Once they finally found a delinquent-proof lock, they caught her utilizing her small frame by crawling through the air ducts.

Ratchet has been pissed to _Hell_ about that one. At some point between the climb and being discovered and apprehended, she had tore open nearly a dozen stitches. He had loomed over her, screeching like a banshee the entire time one of the human medics patched her back up. She had flinched instinctively at the harsh words, but she had long since gotten past being afraid of the base’s CMO, regardless of how angry he was.

From her extended stay she had seen him rant and rave at dozens of patients, noting the degree of his anger was in direct proportion to the severity of the injury and whether or not it came from your own stupidity. The twin red and yellow Lamborghinis she remembered from the day on the beach seemed to be frequent fliers and were the only ones she had witnessed having objects thrown at them.

Unfortunately, while her escape attempts never took her very far, they inspired Ratchet and his team to give her a more permanent residence in Medbay. They had set her up in one of the corners easily visible from Ratchet’s office and had even given her a curtain that she could pull closed for the illusion of privacy. While Medbay itself was never locked, there was always someone there to keep an eye on things, and everyone who passed through knew she was supposed to stay put.

Essentially Jodi was stuck on a base full of military-trained babysitters.

With that thought rolling around in her head, she grabbed the paperback beside her and tossed it forcefully into the pile of them sitting on the bedside table. She felt a small bit of satisfaction as they all scattered like toppled Jenga pieces.

“Hey now, what did those books do to you?”

Jodi glowered before sitting up to face her visitor. “Absolutely _nothing_. That’s part of the problem.”

“I’m guessing books aren’t your thing then. Next time I’ll bring a DS,” Riley chuckled stepping the rest of the way into her cove. He must have just gotten off a shift, he was still in his uniform, and had a small duffle in one hand and a paper bag in the other. He shook the white bag at her, the contents making the paper rattle. “Hungry? I thought you could use some real food. I know the menu on base can be lacking.”

She scooted closer and gave a small sniff. “Oh my God, is that onion rings?”

“Yep.”

When presented to her she descended on the bag like a vulture and pulled out one of the two orders of onion rings and one of the waxpaper-wrapped burgers. As Riley retrieved his share she bit into an onion ring and closed her eyes in enjoyment.

“Don’t pass out on me,” he warned jokingly as he settled himself in a chair he had dragged over. “It’s only junk food.”

Jodi jabbed a ring in his direction. “Yeah, but the last time I had onion rings was when I was still on the road with ‘Cade. Never underestimate the value of good junk food. Did ya bring soda too?”

The cop rummaged in the duffle under his seat and produced two cans of generic lemon-lime soda. “Hope you don’t mind. It’s the only thing they had left in the machine at the station.”

“I’m not picky.”

“Good to know.”

Out of everyone she had met on base, she got along with Riley the best. At first Jodi found it odd that she felt comfortable chatting with a police officer in his late twenties, but soon brushed it aside seeing that her closest relationship was with an alien who spent most of his time with her as a car or as a hologram. Usually both at the same time.

So, yeah, no judging there.

Riley spent time with her whenever his job allowed, usually armed with a deck of cards or smuggled goods. He was surprisingly easy to talk to and was the only one to ask questions about her time with Barricade. He skirted around anything that would upset her, usually asking silly questions about how she adapted to life on the road. She told him about the day Barricade arrested her when she had caught shoplifting, and they both had a good laugh over it.

In return he told stories of his own. For a man of the law he seemed to get into his fair share of trouble, and Jodi couldn’t help but absorb any story that occurred outside the boundaries of Medbay. Her favorite was when he talked about his demotion from homicide detective back to beat cop thanks to Prowl’s literal and unexpected crash landing into his life. Followed closely by his freak out at his suddenly assigned and newly arrived partner who was so creepy-good at his job that Riley had been convinced he was an alien.

Well, he was right.

It was ridiculously nice to talk to someone who wasn’t constantly nagging at her to be careful with her injuries and who didn’t invoke any of the lingering tendrils of fear still clinging to the back of her mind.

Now that she thought about it, one of the main reasons she probably got along so well with him was that he was one of the few that didn’t openly badmouth Barricade, and that alone probably had a huge influence on her opinion of him.

Technically neither did Ratchet, unless they were discussing his field repairs. Also neither had Prowl since her waking, but Jodi could tell there was still tension there that she didn’t want to poke at any more than necessary.

Speaking of the mech . . .

“Where’s Prowl?” Jodi asked curiously between bites. “Is he lurking around, or did he decide to give me a break between interrogation sessions?”

“You shouldn’t be so hard on Prowl.” When she opened her mouth to protest, he gave her a look and verbally ran over her. “Now, before you get all pissy at me for telling you what to do, just hear me out.”

Jodi stared at him for a long moment, taking in his expression. He looked more serious than she had ever seen him, but his posture remained carefully neutral.

She set her food down, but picked up the soda that had been wedged between her calves and began rolling the can absently between her palms. “Okay. So talk.”

“Well, to begin with, Prowl has been busting his _ass_ trying to keep you here on base, but he lacks all the proper information to do so. Unfortunately for him, his best source of usable intel has decided to completely shut him out.”

Her hands stilled. This place wasn’t home by any stretch of the word, but the though of leaving base had never crossed her mind even though it should have. Confusion settled in along with a twinge of worry. “Am I being forced to leave?” she asked quietly.

“Not yet, no. But one mister David Hunter has been throwing quite the hissy fit once he was informed that his niece has been in military custody. They’ve been giving him the run-around, but he has been hell bent on trying to retrieve you, and some rather big names have been brought into it. If this was any other situation, injuries aside, you would have been back in Palo Alto by now.”

Jodi felt her pulse jump and her mouth suddenly ran dry. She shook her head, remembering the snap of broken bones and a hand around her throat. She knew her Uncle’s influence ran pretty deep, but she had no clue how far up the ladder his friends went. Anger and fear both began to well inside her in equal measures. “I can’t go back.” She swallowed and then spoke again, willing her voice to hold more force than she actually felt. “You can’t make me go back.”

“ _I’m_ not making you go anywhere.” Riley said firmly. “But I need you to understand that your eventual eviction _is_ on the table, regardless of what Prowl and Ratchet say. The government has been leaning hard on Optimus to come to a decision soon, and Ratchet can only stall for so long.” He leaned forward then, face earnest. “Prowl and I have talked about it and we keep coming to the same conclusion. I know you’re angry at the world at large these days, but it’s not helping anyone right now. I know you’ve been through Hell, but-”

“You don’t know about _anything_ I’ve been through!”

Jodi bit her lip hard after the words escaped her, noticing that the soda can had crumpled between her fingers. The words rang loud in the relative quiet of her corner of Medbay, and wondered if anyone was listening in. If nothing else, Riley had been spot on about the residents being world-class gossips, but she couldn’t really bring herself to care.

“No, I don’t,” he agreed, quietly. And then suddenly he was more serious than she’s ever seen him. He took a long, slow breath. “But here’s what I do know. I know how it feels to get a call in the middle of a school day saying your dad’s been shot in the line of duty. I know what it’s like to practically raise yourself because your mom has become so flighty since the incident she can’t focus on someone else’s needs for more than five minutes at a time. I know how lonely that life is. But that’s just me. I get it, it’s not the same, not even close from what I’m guessing, but I’m here to help.  So is Prowl, if you would only give him a chance.”

Jodi sat there for a long time, fiddling with her half crumpled soda can before setting it on the bedside table by her fallen books. She shifted her stare down to her lap.

There was a soft puff of breath as Riley sighed. “Jodi-”

“Did you know that I called Prowl that day?” Jodi interrupted. She had no doubts that Riley knew what she was talking about. “He gave my comm unit back to me at the station, even programmed it with his frequency. Knew I didn’t trust him as far as I could throw him, but told me to call anyway.” She swallowed around a sudden lump in her throat, and tried to piece together what she wanted to say. “My uncle was so pissed, bitching about some business thing I’d ruined for him. I said something, I don’t even remember what, and he hit me. Not for the first time, but I just . . . I just _couldn’t_ anymore, and the knife block was right _there_. I was so fucking scared, I thought ‘Cade was gone for good, and I had no one else . . . so I called Prowl. What little good that did me. That bastard broke my wrist, and then he . . .” she broke off and brought one hand to the base of her throat, fingers ghosting where the bruises had since faded. She bit her lip hard and let her hand drop to other arm, absently tracing the burn scar. “If ‘Cade hadn’t come back I don’t think I . . . I . . .”

Jodi couldn’t read Riley’s expression when she finally faded into silence. “Prowl was coming,” he assured her quietly, an odd rasp to his voice. “He was on the way.”

She shook her head slightly, lips quirking up into a smile she didn’t really feel. “He wouldn’t have made it.” The admission sat heavy between the two of them, the weight of it cementing her decision. “You want to know the full story? The full length, non-abridged version of how my life went to hell in a hand basket?”

“Only if you want to.”

So Jodi began to talk, and once she started she couldn’t get herself to stop.


	27. Chapter 27

Jodi sighed through her nose and chewed on the end of her pen to keep herself from scratching under the edges of her cast. The hand dropped back down to the spiral notebook in her lap, mind drifting as she scribbled in the margins.

There was apparently no justice in the universe.

Despite recovering from fatal injuries, exhausting and soul-baring emotional roller coasters, and residing (temporary as it was) in one of the weirdest places on the entire _planet_ , she still wasn’t safe from one of the great evils of the galaxy.

Homework.

Jodi had no clue who suggested it in the first place, but _somebody_ (probably Ratchet) got it in their head that she would benefit from it. Honestly, she believed that they were looking for _anything_ to keep her occupied at this point.

Their relief at her lack of escape attempts after her heart-to-heart with Riley was short lived. With nothing else to do to keep her mind and fingers busy, Jodi began to drift back into habits she hadn’t indulged in since her mother had passed. After two separate instances of catching her taking apart some rather expensive electronics, they were probably getting desperate.

So, as of two days ago, a blonde soldier named Sandra started showing up for a few hours a day to play tutor.

The reminder that she was already behind the rest of her grade quickly overruled her argument that she should be on summer vacation. Jodi would have been more difficult about the whole thing if it hadn’t been for Riley there to dull her stubbornness, but she let it go.

It didn’t mean she had to like it.

Plus, as painful and tedious as math and history were, the work didn’t distract her nearly as much as they hoped it did.

She stopped her pen once she hit the bottom of the page and stared at the same four letters that filled every space the margin had to offer, the letters harsh and choppy due to the condition of her right wrist, but still perfectly legible.

_'CADE._

Case and point.

Jodi groaned and ran a hand through the loose mess that was her hair, trying desperately to ignore how pathetic she was being.

It was extra difficult for her to focus today due to the knowledge that somewhere in this zoo they call a base there was a room full of people discussing her fate. The thought alone was nerve wracking, and it was only made worse by the fact that she had no official say one way or another. She had precious little control of her life up to this point, and now yet another decision was being made without her.

Being a minor sucked.

At least she was pretty sure that she wouldn’t be seeing her uncle any time soon, especially not after seeing the expression on Riley’s face when she had finished her story.

But there was still a small patch of lingering fear that clung to the very back of her mind, like a scar on her soul that she was beginning to think she would never be rid of. She tried her best to just ignore it, but it would whisper at her, voicing the worst possible scenarios. Being shipped off to live with strangers was one of the better outcomes, but the idea of leaving without at least seeing Barricade again made something twist painfully behind her ribs.

Apparently they were discussing Barricade’s future as well, and Jodi more worried for him than for herself. How did they classify him anyway? Dangerous refugee? War criminal? Even if they did eventually let him go, she doubted it would be before they shipped her to god knows where. If he wanted to would they even let him look for her?

And now that she no longer had her comm unit how would he ever find her?

Before he left Prowl had promised to let her know the details once a final decision has been reached which was _slightly_ assuring, but Riley’s parting wink had suggested she might know something as soon as the majority was swayed one way or another.

Or he knew something already.

Jodi bit the pen again, harder, and felt the plastic start to give beneath her teeth.

She wasn’t doing herself any favors thinking about it.

“Oh _c’mon_ Mikaela, it’s not like that!”

Well, at least she wasn’t _completely_ without a proper distraction.

Pen still between her teeth, Jodi planted her good hand on the mattress and leaned sideways to peek around her half-drawn privacy curtain. A familiar dark-haired teen paced the space beside a large berth where a fidgety yellow mech was getting his throat tinkered with.

Jodi remembered the mech from several previous visits and he had seemed friendly enough, though she found it weird when his speech was occasionally broken up with random sound clips that he used to get his point across. Ratchet had introduced him as Bumblebee, and had explained that his voice still glitched now and again due to an old injury. They had made progress on it, but Bumblebee wasn’t exactly an ideal patient.

Jodi couldn’t really blame him, seeing as she was also a patient of Ratchet’s and there wasn’t a single soul here that would say _she_ was a good patient either.

But luckily for him, with Ratchet in the meeting the scout’s routine maintenance was being done by First Aid. It was obvious that the mech was attempting to stay as still as possible for the medic and keep track of the frustrated human at the same time with minimal success.

Jodi had met Sam and Mikaela a few times after she had woken from her coma. Both of them were freshly graduated Seniors, and lived in the same town Riley worked. They didn’t visit Medbay very often, but if Bumblebee was around it was a pretty safe bet that at least one of them was close by. They were all introduced on the grounds that it would be good for Jodi to connect with other people her own age that were “in the know” about the whole Cybertronians on earth thing.

Well, regardless who was responsible for that little gem, it had kinda backfired.

Rather horribly.

Don’t get her wrong, Sam and Mikaela were good people and, if the Base Grapevine was halfway accurate, they had been through a shit storm all of their own, but with the three of them all in the same room their personalities meshed about as well as oil and water.

Mikaela was like Jodi’s antithesis. They both had naturally tanned skin and dark wavy hair but that was where the similarities ended.  Tall and fit where Jodi was ridiculously short and skinny. Skin clear and perfectly smooth while the expanse of Jodi’s body was littered with scars. When she would arrive with pristine makeup and gorgeous hair it would make her more conscious of own her barely kempt appearance. Mikaela became a visual reminder of Charity and the other girls Jodi hated at school, only minus the truckloads of cash and only a tiny fraction of the bad attitude. Thankfully the attitude had never been directed at _her_.

About the only things the two of them had in common were arrest records (though Mikaela’s had apparently been wiped clean not long after her and Sam met the Autobots), and the ability to hotwire cars. They could hold a civil conversation, but if it dragged too long then the atmosphere became painfully awkward.

And Sam . . .

Sam just annoyed the _crap_ out of Jodi.

She believed he meant well, really, but he was someone Jodi could only handle in very, _very_ small doses. He was high strung and twitchy, complained about his parents a lot (which bit at Jodi harder than it should have), and quite simply just didn’t know when to _stop talking_. When he was nervous or uncomfortable his default seemed to be just plow on and babble whatever came to mind regardless of audience. Sometimes that came without a filter.

She discovered _that_ particular personality trait the first time she had mentioned Barricade in his presence. Ignoring the warning gestures Bumblebee had tried to make in his direction, he told Jodi of his opinion of her companion, her rescuer, her _friend_. Loudly. Rudely. And in great detail.

Fuming in silent rage, she had promptly kicked him out of her little corner and viciously yanked the curtain closed behind him. It would have been much more satisfying if she had an actual door to slam, but regardless she had refused to talk to anyone for the rest of the day.

Later, much later, Riley had dropped off a report for her to read, detailing all of Sam’s previous encounters with Barricade.

It helped her understand a bit where Sam was coming from, but did absolutely nothing to gain her forgiveness. With a few key exceptions, she still was borderline hostile to most of the people on base due to their difference of opinion when it came to Barricade, and flat out ignored most of the population.

From the sound of it, apparently Sam’s talent with word salad had presented itself yet again in an earlier conversation with his girlfriend. Even though Jodi was only catching half of it, even she could tell Mikaela was _pissed_.

“It wasn’t! I _didn’t_! No- hey! C’mon Mikaela, at _least_ give me a chance to-” He abruptly stopped pacing. “Hello? ‘Kaela? Hello?” He gaped down at his phone. “She hung up on me. She hung up on me! Unbelievable, just frickn’ _unbelievable_! Bee, help me out here!”

“If you speak while I’m making adjustments to your vocalizer, I will not be held responsible for Ratchet’s reaction when he reads my report,” First Aid warned without even glancing up from his work.

Bumblebee gave the medic a placating gesture before flicking an apologetic look in Sam’s direction.

“Yeah, yeah, I know big guy.” Sam waved him off. “Doctor’s orders. I get it. Last thing we need is to bring the Hatchet’s fury down on us all.”

“Don’t know you’re worried,” Jodi couldn’t help but comment after taking the pen from between her teeth. “Ratchet isn’t all _that_ scary.” After all, Ratchet talked a big game when he was pissed, but after her encounter with Soundwave, and not to mention living with her uncle, he was _far_ from being the most terrifying thing she’s met.

And she knew for a fact the same held true for Sam as well.

Sam whirled in surprise and leveled an accusing finger in her direction. “Hey! No one asked your opinion! And who said you could eavesdrop anyway?”

Jodi held up a hand, waving her cast a little. “I’m still on lockdown and you were being loud. ‘Sides, I was just saying. Ratchet? Not that scary.”

He snorted. “Says _you_. Some of us humans have actual survival instincts, and given the company you keep, I’m not convinced you still have yours.”

“Excuse me?” Jodi’s irritation flared up quick as a provoked viper. “Keep talking jackass and I’m gonna chuck something at your head!”

First Aid stepped in. “Sam, I know you’re upset, but I would appreciate it if you didn’t aggravate Jodi. I can’t imagine what benefit you would gain from having two young women angry with you.”

He huffed and threw his hands in the air. “Fine, fine!” he grumbled on, just loud enough for Jodi to hear. “Half blind, not like she could aim worth a damn anyway.”

“Wanna bet you glitched excuse of-”

“Will you two _stop-_ ”

Everyone fell silent when the whole base rocked, making Sam stumble and Jodi grab the side of the bed for balance. The low boom that resonated through the very foundation of the building threw Jodi into a violent memory of the last time she had heard something similar.

The two Autobots in the room scrambled to their feet while Sam’s eyes darted around as if expecting something to come crashing through the wall. “Are we being attacked? _Seriously_?”

Sam was answered by another tremor followed by the whole Medbay falling into darkness.

Before she could think about it, Jodi rolled off the bed and sprinted on bare feet.

If nothing else, her extended stay in Medbay had taught her the complete layout of the room itself down to the last piece of unnamed equipment. It was a straight shot from her corner to the door, and from what she saw before the lights went out none of the others were in her way.

She saw her opening and she bolted.

 

 

Barricade sat calmly in his cell when he felt the first explosion go off somewhere on the other side of the base. When the second eruption cut the power, not only killing the lights, but disengaging the bars as well, he rose to his peds and narrowed his optics.

Security and systems maintenance had never been his department, but even he knew that that shouldn’t have happened. Cells were _always_ kept on a second power grid to prevent jail breaks.

His attention was drawn to the distinct sounds of a scuffle down the hall followed by the sound of the door sliding open.

Barricade took a fighting stance and waited.

A low metallic growl echoed from the bare brig walls, the sound chilling and familiar. The glow of bright red optics appeared before him, lower to the ground than the vast majority of the Cybertronians still left alive. The growl faded into a dull voice.

“Soundwave sends his regards.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tune for the conclusion tomorrow.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys get this one now and the other two when I get home later tonight, it might be lade evening, but it will be up.

Okay, so maybe Jodi hadn’t thought this one through.

Using the darkness and small size to her advantage, she had managed to slip past three separate groups scurrying off to wherever the commotion was. The power was still down, but _something_ still had juice because there were red lights scattered sparsely along the main halls. They cast deep shadows, allowing Jodi to hide practically in plain view, but with them flashing like warped strobe lights it made it that much harder for her to find the nearest stairwell.

It would also help if she actually knew where she was going.

Sure, she had made sure to take mental notes every time she had been out of Medbay, escorted or otherwise, but it was a fucking _military base_. The place was _massive._ Thanks to her eavesdropping skills she had gathered that the brig was one level below Medbay but not much else.

It would have been much more helpful if she had any other directions other than “down” and “towards Barricade”.

She hoped that she wouldn’t be stopped before she found him.

Eventually Jodi spotted a door that was slightly ajar with what she was pretty sure were a set of stairs beyond it. Making sure she was clear, she scampered quietly across the hall and slipped inside without opening the door any more than necessary. She found herself standing on the landing of a spiral staircase, the area illuminated by more dim red lights.

She tiptoed forward and peered over the rail, looking down then up. There seemed to be only one or two levels below the landing she was on, but the stairs spiraled up far beyond what Jodi could see in the borderline darkness. She couldn’t help but wonder how far underground she was.

Distracted, Jodi took a step to her left where the stairs curved down only to freeze when her bare foot stepped in something warm, wet and tacky. Heart lodged in her throat, when she finally brought herself to look her hands flew to her mouth to stifle a scream.

She was standing in a pool of blood. The liquid was nearly black in the lighting and was slowly spreading across the landing, still seeping from two crumpled forms.

Her pulse tripled when she recognized the remains of two human soldiers, absolutely horrified.

_Oh my God. Oh my God, oh my God . . ._

The reality of it hit her with the force of a runaway freight train. The fact that they were _actually_ under some sort of attack was brought into sharp focus, especially when she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the bodies. One had a large but disturbingly clean shot right between the eyes, the other was torn to shreds and barely recognizable as human. Most of the blood obviously came from the second body, which disturbingly reminded Jodi of a messier version of Barricade’s handiwork.

Remembering the fact that she knew he had no problem spilling human blood, for one brief moment she feared it actually _was_ his work before she scolded herself for the very thought. She reminded herself that all of his weapons had been remover or disabled, so while he was capable of tearing something limb from limb (she shuddered) a clean headshot was beyond him at the moment. Even his holographic emitter had been rendered useless.

The Autobots weren’t taking any chances with a Decepticon deserter.

_Deserter._

The gears in Jodi’s mind began to crank, leaving a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

No one told her much of anything these days, but she wasn’t stupid and she did have ears. Taking into account everything she had overheard, plus what she had learned from Barricade during their time together she was able to piece together a basic picture of his standing.

Barricade had declared himself a traitor to his own faction when he attacked Soundwave in her defense. She had figured out by now that he had been in some sort of trouble with them _long_ before she even came into the picture. His condition had been a clear indication of _that_ , but that day on the beach he had probably thrown away his last chance of being accepted back into their ranks.

What if they were here for Barricade?

Her fear solidified in her gut as she had another thought

What if they were here for _her_?

And here she was, roaming the base in the dark.

Alone.

And weaponless.

Oh _god_ , she was so stupid!

Gathering her wits and her courage, Jodi set out to fix at least one of her problems.

Biting her lip against a wave of nausea, Jodi waded further into the puddle of blood to crouch over the shot soldier and pull the small sidearm he had visible at his hip. There was a much larger gun lying nearby, some sort of large rifle, but she ignored it on the grounds that it looked heavy and she doubted she could fire the damn thing without falling over. Or re-breaking her wrist.

She wondered about the actual usefulness of a gun against someone like Soundwave and tried to ignore her conclusion.

She took a few deep breaths and blew them out harshly, as if she could fill her lungs with all her nerves and expel it from her body. The familiar hum of adrenaline began to sing through her as she gripped her new weapon with two hands, mindful of where her fingers were in relation to the trigger.

Okay. _Okay._

She could do this. Maybe.

It wasn’t like had never handled a gun in her life, because shooting cans with a BB gun once totally counted. Right?

Right, she didn’t think so.

With a shuddering breath Jodi rose to her feet and took a step forward, trying valiantly to ignore the trail of sticky red footprints she was inevitably leaving behind.

Soon she made it to the lower level, thankfully, without any more surprises, and slowly crept out into a wide corridor that was clearly meant to accommodate at least two decent sized Cybertronians standing side by side. The lack of cover made her pause and the fact that both directions were identical didn’t help her decide which way to go.

“Stupid base,” she muttered to herself softly. “All that government funding and they can’t invest in _signs_.”

All thoughts came to a screeching halt at the soft scuffle coming from the stairway behind her.

Heart in her throat, Jodi whirled and swung the in the direction of the noise, her fingers unintentionally flexing against the trigger. Thunder roared in her ears and her hands flew up and slightly back, unprepared for the recoil.

Her target flailed his long limbs as the bullet went wide, ricocheting loudly off the stairwell behind him. “WOAH! What the hell! Who the hell gave you a gun!?”

When she recognized him, Jodi grit her teeth and took a deep breath to calm herself. She lowered the gun and ignored how her hands shook. “ _Dammit_ Sam! I could’ve fucking _shot you_ , what the hell are you doing down here?”

He pointed at himself incredulously. “What am _I_ doing here? Looking for _you_ , what do you _think_ I’m doing down here? You’re the one who ran off like a bat outta hell!” He swooped in to grab her arm and escort her back the way he came. “Come on, Bee is just upstairs, he’ll take us back to Medbay where it’s safe and-”

She wrenched her arm away. “I’m not going anywhere until I’ve seen ‘Cade!”

“Oh my God, are you serious?” he groaned before hiking a thumb over his shoulder. “You _did_ see the mess back there, right? Think for a second! His buddies are probably here to bust him out and you want to go see the guy.” He made another grab for her. “Now come _on_!”

“I said no!” Jodi hissed, feeling the first brush of irritation. She yanked her arm away again, making sure the barrel of the gun was pointing safely at the floor. The last thing she wanted was another misfire.

Well, on the bright side at least she knew it was loaded and that the safety was definitely off.

“We really, _really_ don’t have time for your special brand of Stockholm Syndrome right now,” Sam pressed. “We need to _go_.”

“Then go!” she snarled, frustration flaring as the rest of her emotions quickly became a tangled mess in her chest. Her anger and determination now at war with her fear and uncertainty, and she didn’t need anyone else adding to it. “No one’s stopping you! I don’t give a shit whether you like Barricade or not, _I do_. Now excuse me while I make sure his old war buddies haven’t offed him!”

She stomped away, handgun now held with just her right hand, the ends of her cast digging uncomfortably into her skin as she clenched the grip tighter. She just started walking, no longer caring which direction she was going as long as she was moving.

“Jodi! Jodi, wait!”

She got about thirty yards in before Sam, apparently sick of just following her, darted ahead and blocked her way, arms outstretched towards her like she was a spooking horse. Or one about ready to charge. She leveled a steely glare at him, taking satisfaction when he began to visibly squirm under her gaze even as he held his ground.

“Just _wait_ a second will you?” He pleaded. Sam’s expression was hard to read when he realized he had her attention, but he continued. “Look, I get it, okay? I do. The circumstances are miles apart, but there was a time where Bee got captured by people who were _supposed_ to be the good guys. And no matter how much I fought and screamed for them to stop, no one listened and they still took him away. I wasn’t convinced that he was okay until I saw him for myself. So I get that it’s hard for you to believe us, alright? But this-”

“Is exactly the same,” Jodi interrupted, the heat of her temper banked for the moment. “Barricade and I have been through too damn much together and I’ll be _damned_ if I give up now. I don’t care what history he has with you guys, I wanna make sure he’s okay with my own two eyes and I’m not gonna let you or anyone else stop me!”

There was a battle of wills as they stared at each other long and hard.

Sam’s arms suddenly dropped as he sighed and gave a forlorn look to the ceiling. “I’m so going to regret this,” he muttered to himself, then louder to her as he tossed his arms up in surrender. “Fine! You want to see tall dark and scary? Fine, okay? But I’m going with you.”

Jodi was floored.

“But I’m going to comm Bee and tell him where we’re heading. I’ll feel better knowing someone with heavy artillery is on the way.”

Given the circumstances, Jodi could agree to that.

 

           

With Sam leading the way, it didn’t take Jodi long to realize she had been going the wrong way. It figured.

At least they could see properly now.

While Sam had been arguing with someone over his comm unit (“ _You_ make her come back! I’m not going to try to force the girl with the gun to- hey _I_ don’t know how she got it!”), the power had been restored, not only the lights but security cameras as well. It was kind of assuring to know that if they were in trouble someone would know.

Whether they would be able to help in time was a whole other matter.

And of course, not two minutes after that thought crossed her mind there was a faint scuttling sound overhead. It was soft, but being as on edge as she was it made her slow and lift her gaze up.

And saw two very distinct sets of optics peering down at her.

“Umm, _Sam_ . . .”

The older teen paused, looked at her and then followed her eyes upward. He visibly paled and backed up, crowding closer to Jodi.

One of the figures overhead used a vertical pipe to slide down closer to the floor. Jodi caught a flash of silver and a small long-limbed form, but the thing stopped it’s decent before it was in full light.

“Hey, look Laserbeak, it’s the Witwicky boy who murdered Lord Megatron!” the metallic voice sounded delighted, tinny voice echoing off the walls. “Think Boss Bot would be happy if we took care of him as well?”

That . . . didn’t sound good. At all.

“Shit,” Sam whispered, his clear panic doing absolutely nothing to calm her own fraying nerves. “Oh, shit, shit, shit! Uh, _run_!”

With that he turned and bolted, forcing Jodi to follow hot on his heels.

She could talk all she wanted about how annoying Sam was, but _damn_ the older boy was fast! Though having a proper set of shoes probably helped. Jodi tried valiantly to keep up, but every few strides she would have to compensate for slipping, her feet finding poor traction on the smooth floor.

As she fell behind her steps faltered when something fast flitted overhead in the shadows of the ceiling.

Sam yelled as a bird bot swooped down out of nowhere and tried to snatch him with it’s talons. In an impressive feat of reflexes, he darted to the side and ducked low, avoiding the worst of it. One of the wicked looking claws sliced clean through the shoulder of his t-shirt, leaving a shallow red line in its wake. His adrenaline levels must be at least as high as hers because Sam charged on as if he didn’t feel it.

She should have been paying attention.

Suddenly something small and rock hard crashed into the back of her legs, making her knees buckle with a startled gasp. Jodi went down hard, the impact knocking the wind right out of her. Immediately she felt biting pinpricks scrabbling up her legs, scratching and clawing. She struggled to free herself and twisted, finding a child-sized Cybertronian grabbing at her, optics bright and malicious.

“Where are you going little human?” the high, chittering voice demanded. “I haven’t played with you yet!”

Her panic ratcheted up another level, making her fight harder. It was then that she realized, by some miracle, she was still holding the gun. Gritting her teeth in a feral snarl, Jodi brought the muzzle point blank to the thing’s optic.

And fired.

As Jodi closed her eyes against the sudden shower of glass and shrapnel, the thing let loose a wail that sounded like a thousand metal sheets screeching against one another. It still clung on, one spindly hand clutching at it’s blown out socket while the other dug deeper into her leg.

“Get the fuck off of me you little bastard!” Jodi screamed, attempting to get another shot in, but he was ready for her. He knocked her hand to the side, not hard enough to lose her grip, but deflecting her enough that she couldn’t get another shot off.

“Sam!” she called, pleading for help.

“Little busy!” he shot back, apparently defending against his own attacker.

As they grappled, the little mech leaned in and gave what must have passed as a grin on it’s twisted face. “Soundwave was right, Barricade’s little human is _feisty_! You’ll be so much fun to play with!”

“Play with _this_.”

The low voice behind her made Jodi’s hope soar and was accompanied by two heavy thuds and a groaning squeal of metal against metal.

The mech sitting on her froze, his attention riveted to the new arrival. Still fighting, Jodi twisted her head as much as she could to get a look at who she _knew_ was only yards away. Instead she saw the decapitated body of what looked like a big robotic cat, a large hole punched through it’s chest cavity and splashed with it’s own energon. In her peripheral vision she thought she spotted what might be its head, rocking slightly where it had been thrown.

But that wasn’t what she was focusing on.

The vision standing beyond that made everything in her cry out in joy and relief, the simple fact that he was there, that he was _alive_ , seeped into her like a balm.

Because there stood Barricade in his true visage, armor slightly scuffed but otherwise looking better, _healthier_ , than she had ever seen him. The impact of that alone made him seem bigger and more powerful than he was even as he stood over the empty shell of the dead Cybertronian.

And he looked _pissed_.

“Next one to touch her joins him in getting his empty spark chamber sent back to Soundwave,” he growled. “Any takers?”


	29. Chapter 29

The tiny Cybertronian sitting on her couldn’t seem to run away fast enough. Jodi hissed when one of its claws scored along her ribs as it launched off of her in a blatant retreat. She sat there and breathed for a moment before rolling over to push herself to her feet.

Hands were on her, roughly checking her arms and shoulders. “Are you okay?”

She brushed off Sam’s concern. Her limbs throbbed with new bruises and the line along her ribs stung, but she didn’t give them any attention. Her whole body was humming, with dozens of different emotions pooling together, dulling the pain, but even those were drowned by the pure _elation_ that had made a home in her chest.

Jodi’s flawed eyes were riveted to Barricade. He stood several yards away, partially turned away from her to glare after the two retreating Decepticons. He was still terrifying in this form, frame thick with heavy armor and covered in sharp angles, but his body posture was the same as his Holoform. The familiarity of it cut through her hesitance and allowed her to step forward.

“Jodi, don’t, come on,” Sam hissed, a sharp whisper. “Jodi!”

Jodi paused mid-step as Barricade turned towards them, pinning her with a look. His bright red optics were easily as intense as the crimson irises of his Holoform, and twice as hard. She held his gaze steadily for several long seconds before something in his posture softened, his frame loosening ever so slightly. There was something there, a tell, she could _feel_ it, but damned if she knew what it was. She had a hard enough time reading his human-shaped Holoform, much less his true appearance which she had now seen a grand total of three times.

Well, _whatever_ it was dissolved the rest of her nerves and her feet carried her the rest of the way.

He kneeled as she closed the distance, bringing him closer to her level. For a moment she wished he had access to his Holo, something more her size that she could hug, or hit, but she reminded herself firmly that this _was him._ The real him.

Eventually she found her voice. “I thought you were stuck in the brig.”

“I thought you were confined to Medbay,” he retorted, voice as gruff as it ever was, but mild. “It seems like neither of us are good at staying where we are supposed to be. Dare I ask why you believed it was a good idea to wander around during an attack?”

“Can you just . . . not? I already know I have a lecture and a half waiting for me when the others get here and I just can’t hear it from you right now. So just _don’t._ Please?”

She lifted her free hand, the right one that was still wrapped in plaster, and pressed her palm firmly against the plating on his leg.  A gust of air blew from her lungs, leaving a strange sense of calm in its wake. The simple touch, warm and familiar, did wonders to settle the restlessness that had plagued her since that first day she woke up on base.

‘Cade was here, alive, and just as healthy as the others had claimed, if a bit scratched from his recent scuffle.

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

He scoffed. “Even unarmed I’m far from helpless.”

She rapped his armor sharply with the butt of her pistol. “I didn’t mean now, you jerk! The last time I saw your ass there was a hole in your chest! Excuse me for not believing the locals when they said you were fine!”

Instead of responding, ‘Cade’s optics were focused on the shiny metal object in her left hand. “I thought I heard gunfire. Where did you get that?”

“I, uh,” Jodi suddenly had the urge to hide her weapon behind her back, though the gesture would be pointless. “I kinda lifted it from a dead soldier.”

Sam sputtered audibly behind her. “You mean the ones back on the stairs? Aw, that’s _gross_.”

She whirled on the older boy, “At least I thought of arming myself. You didn’t exactly come prepared.”

“Not my fault Bee couldn’t fit on the stairs,” Sam said, notably keeping his distance. Jodi couldn’t help but enjoy the nervous look he kept shooting at Barricade. “You were _supposed_ to come back with me, not shoot at me. ”

Barricade caught Jodi’s eye and gave her what could only be a wry expression. “Firing on the Autobot’s Golden Child. I believe I taught you more than I thought.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose,” she admitted quietly.

The screech of tires echoed down the hall, followed by the deep roar of engines, announcing the arrival of the Calvary. Jodi wondered if Autobots were always so late to the party. The twin Lamborghinis were first to arrive, blowing right past them in blurs of red and yellow, clearly hoping to track down the intruder’s in their base. The rest of the crew rounded the corner moments later, transforming when they got close.

Jodi groaned when she spotted Optimus Prime and an annoyed Prowl leading the way, and quickly stamped down the childish urge to hide behind Barricade’s bulky frame. She did take a step back when ‘Cade rose to face the group of Autobots.

Sam ran right up to Bumblebee, who was a step behind Optimus. “What took you guys so long? I thought I was bird food!”

“The corridor was collapsed. We had to create an alternate route,” Optimus explained. His gaze swept over her and Barricade, as Jodi couldn’t help but worry. “I see you two wasted no time taking advantage of the situation.”

Barricade stood a little straighter, as if preparing to face a firing squad. Dread settled in the pit of Jodi’s stomach, her gaze flickering between him and the Autobots gathered behind their leader. As all her fear returned with a vengeance, Jodi stepped in front of her friend, defending him as she had from the start. “He had nothing to do with the attack!”

“We are aware of that Miss Hunter.” Optimus told her evenly. “That does not excuse the fact that he escape his cell with the full knowledge that today we were discussing his future. That will not look good to the Secretary of Defense, as it was one of the things he was most worried about.”

“He did kinda save our butts,” Sam admitted, albeit grudgingly, and Jodi could _hug_ him for that tiny bit of support.

“Regardless, the decision has already been made.”

Jodi couldn’t breathe. “But he didn’t- you _can’t_ just. . .”

“It’s alright Jodi.” She started at the low tone of ‘Cade’s voice. She could _feel_ the defeat resonate through the air and settle in her bones.

Well, screw that.

She whipped around to jab an accusing finger at Barricade. “Don’t you _dare_ quit on me now!” she hissed. She turned to glare at the rather daunting figure of Optimus Prime. “And you! Every day since I woke up in this damned place I’ve been smothered with all this talk of how Autobots stand for all this righteous bullshit! You do this and all you prove is-”

Her tirade came to abrupt halt at a sudden bark of laughter. Everyone, human and Cybertronian alike turned to stare at Prowl. Jodi shared a look with Barricade, who looked just as confused and maybe a little worried.

“Of course the two of you would expect the worst. You both misunderstand the situation.” Prowl turned to Optimus. “With your permission sir, may I escort my brother and his charge to Medbay? I’m sure that Ratchet wants to make sure Jodi didn’t set back her recovery.”

“Of course.”

Jodi had several questions running through her head, and she floundered with which one to start with as she gestured between Barricade and the Autobots.

Sam had no such trouble.

“Wait, back up. _Brothers_?”

 

 

As soon as Jodi stepped into Medbay she was ambushed by Ratchet for that lecture she told Barricade about. Her pistol had been quickly confiscated, and her new scrapes and bruises seen to. The soldier who took her gun didn’t even looked all that surprised that she had it.

She must be developing a reputation.

Now she sat cross-legged on a rolling chair she borrowed from one of the human work stations, arms crossed and biting nervously at her lip.

As Jodi sat there in the familiar walls of Medbay, she kept expecting to wake up because she was positive she was dreaming. Barricade was sitting on a nearby berth as Ratchet re-engaged his holographic emitter, pointedly ignoring the medic as he worked. Prowl stood next to him, explaining the conditions of his parole. Having ‘Cade here surrounded by other mechs who weren’t trying to kill him was so strange it _had_ to be a dream. Having long since determined that her luck is never this good, there wasn’t any other option.

‘Cade looked like he believed it about as much as Jodi did. Seeing him and Prowl side by side was weird, especially with the friction she had witnessed from Prowl’s end. They both looked tense, but Prowl was in full on officer mode as he ran through the restrictions Barricade would be under.

_Brothers huh. Explains a bit._

One side of Jodi’s mouth quirked up into a tiny smile. Well. At least one of them had decent family left, estranged as they obviously were.

Things would be rough for a while, of course it would, but Jodi hoped that this was the first step to mending whatever lay shattered between the two of them.

That thought led to another and Jodi’s smile quickly evaporated.

Where did that leave her though?

“Hey now, why the long face?”

Jodi turned and shot Riley a halfhearted grin as he dragged a second chair over to plop down beside her. She turned her flawed eyes back to Prowl and Barricade. “Did you know they were brothers?”

“Twins apparently,” he confided, scratching his chin with his thumb. “But don’t ask me how that works, I don’t have a damn clue. Prowl came clean at the meeting. The only ones who didn’t look surprised were Optimus and Ratchet.”

“I can believe that.” She couldn’t help but sigh quietly. Her arms dropped into her lap, fingers tracing the familiar lines of her scar. “I’m gonna miss them,” Jodi admitted softly.

“You’re talking like you’re never going to see them again.”

“I’m not.” She furrowed her brows before giving him a confused look. “Am I?”

“No one told you?”

“Told me _what_?”

“No one had a chance to,” came Ratchet’s clipped voice, showing he was obviously eavesdropping. “She bolted before anyone could inform her. Though I believe it would be best if you informed her yourself.”

Riley ran a hand through his auburn hair, smile sheepish as he scratched the base of his neck. He met Jodi’s expectant gaze. “So, ah, how do you like the idea of living with me for a while? I warn you, I’m a workaholic, I keep weird hours, I order takeout way too much and I have bad habits. It’s no mansion, but there’s plenty of room, and it’s not like I’m using the space.”

Jodi took a moment to process that, and then sputtered. “What, you mean live in Tranquility? For how long?”

His smile turned into a full on grin, dark eyes glinting. “Until you turn 18,” he said breezily. “After that . . . you can stay until you run off to college, or until you’re sick of us, but that’ll all be up to you.”

Her breath caught and she scarcely dared to hope. “Who’s ‘us’ exactly?”

“Well, me and Prowl, and your guardian of course.”

“Guardian? If I’m living with you, won’t that make _you_ my guardian?”

Now Riley looked downright smug. “On paper, yes. But that means very little to the bots around here, and this is a special circumstance anyway. Since your guardian wont be allowed to carry much in the way of weaponry for a good long while, he’ll be forced to stay in close proximity to a mech that does. And since Prowl is already assuming responsibility for him, it only makes sense that we all bunk together, don’t you think?”

“Barricade.” The word was a ghost on her lips.

“Yep. So . . . what do you say? Feel like moving in with two cops and an ex-convict?”

It was all she could to keep still, her whole being screaming _Hell Yes_ for the world to hear. Warmth pulsed beneath her breast, the sensation quickly spreading and leaving her a bit light headed.

There was only one thing to say really.

“When do we move in?”


	30. Epilogue

Jodi woke to booming thunder and rain pelting against glass. The wind was blowing hard enough to rattle the whole window. A quick glance at the clock told her that it was too damn early to be awake. She huffed and rolled over to bury herself back under the covers, determined to go back to sleep.

After twenty minutes of wasted effort, she tossed the covers aside and stumbled out of bed, unconsciously straitening her shorts and rumpled t-shirt as she rose. When she found herself restless like this the chances of her actually catching any more sleep were pretty slim.

She yawned as she stumbled out into the hall, absently scratching at her neck, making her dog tags clink softly on their chain. The small Autobot symbol etched on the front glinted in the dim light, all shiny and new. The house was still and quiet, save for the pounding rain that she could still hear tapping on the roof, along with the occasional crash of thunder.

Jodi wondered briefly if summer storms were normal for this part of Nevada, or if this was just a freak thing.

The kitchen light was on further down the hall, which wasn’t unusual. Riley hadn’t been lying when he said he kept weird hours, especially these days since he and Prowl were up for a promotion. But as she stepped into the room the only traces that Riley had been there recently was a half drained coffee mug and the lingering smell of cigarette smoke.

Jodi had been surprised the first time she watched him light up, not that she minded that much, several of her father’s coworkers at the garage had been heavy chain smokers after all, but it wasn’t something she had pictured Riley doing when he said he had bad habits. When asked why he never smelled smoke on him back at the base, he grinned and simply stated that he was tired of hearing Ratchet lecture him about it. These days he mostly kept it outside, but sometimes he forgot his new self-imposed rule.

There was a note waiting for her on the kitchen table, hastily written and tucked under the coffee mug.

She inhaled sharply, stomping down an irrational wave of dread as she picked it up the innocent piece of paper and quickly read it.

 

            _We got a call from the station. We’ll be gone for most of the day, but knowing Prowl he’ll be checking in frequently. Call us if you need anything._

_-Riley_

Jodi gave a little snort.

“Checking in frequently” was Riley’s delicate way of saying that Prowl was concerned that the two remaining residents of the household were inevitably going to find themselves in trouble.

If there was one thing Prowl was good at it was hovering. It was . . . awkward at first, but soon it became just plain annoying. Jodi’s parents hadn’t been the hovering type, and her uncle’s hovering had been a different beast altogether, so Jodi didn’t really know how to handle it at first. Pretty soon she learned if she snapped at him like she would at Ratchet accomplished absolutely nothing, and that brushing him off was a surefire way of convincing him that something was wrong.

It pissed her off something awful for the first week, but when she was about ready to snap and do something drastic in retaliation, Barricade cut her off at the pass, so to speak, and shed some light on the situation. Explained that it was the way Prowl was when given new responsibilities, and that while he would never _stop_ the excess would ease with time.

Sooner rather than later she hoped.

So Jodi let him hover, and bitched at him freely if he was getting too nosey about it.

Jolted from her thoughts by another lightning crash, Jodi let the note fall back onto the table. On bare feet she padded quietly across the linoleum floor to the other side of the kitchen where a door stood slightly ajar, giving her a glimpse of the garage. She pulled on the handle and stepped through, flicking on the light as she went.

The garage was huge, and hands down Jodi’s favorite feature of the entire house. Instead of utilizing it as storage place, the floor was clear. Even with the large and fully equipped workbench taking up a nearly half of one wall there was ample room left for three decent sized vehicles.

Although currently there was only one.

Jodi smiled at the jet black mustang parked near the far wall, gleaming like polished obsidian. The police modifications were long gone as per the restrictions of his parole, and sometimes Jodi missed them, but she was just content to see him whole, without the dents and the gouges.

Well, save one.

The only things that remained was the Decepticon emblem, right behind the front wheel well on the passenger side where the police crest used to be, with two deep scratches scoring right through it. A souvenir from his scrap in the brig, apparently. When she realized it wasn’t healing like the others had she learned that Cybertronians could deliberately scar themselves when the proper solvent is applied to the wound.

 Jodi skated a hand briefly over the scar before gently tapping on a tinted window.

“Hey, ‘Cade, you awake?”

The door popped open in silent invitation. She smiled and climbed in. The door closed softly behind her and she settled back against it with a sigh, shifting until she was in a position that didn’t press too hard against her back. Jodi let her eyes slide shut as she rested her temple against the glass.

There wasn’t even a full minute of silence before there was a gruff voice to her left. “Couldn’t sleep?”

Jodi made a noncommittal noise in the back of her throat. “Slept fine. Storm woke me though.”

“Since when are you bothered by storms?”

Jodi blinked blearily at the glass as she remembered. “That’s right. I found you in a storm.” She turned her head to deliver a curious look to his Holoform. The face was still the same twenty-something with red eyes, but the outfit was new. She was still adjusting to the jeans and t-shirt. “I didn’t know you were awake for that.”

“Only briefly,” he admitted and Jodi winced as she thought about all the injuries she must have hit during her forced entry.

Wanting to change the subject, Jodi recalled the note sitting in the kitchen. “So did they say anything, or did they just up and leave?”

“Something involving a man on probation trying to skip town with his children.” He shrugged. “Nothing they would need my help with.”

“You sure they just don’t want you to get any ideas?”

She only smirked at the flat look leveled at her.

Jodi really shouldn’t poke fun at him. It was bad enough that he was still under the authority of the combined authority of the Autobots and a very specialized branch of the U.S government, but the list of restrictions he had to follow was staggering. Most of it didn’t seem to faze him, but every now and then his temper would flare, usually at Prowl, and Jodi could tell he was going stir-crazy. Barricade was more uneasy about staying in one place than Jodi was, except if _he_ decided to make a run for it he’d be swarmed with Autobots once he went further then his allotted distance.

Her too for that matter. The tags resting against her chest weren’t just for show after all. She couldn’t even remove the damn things without alerting someone.

She tugged at them as now, annoyed at the reminder. “I miss the open road.” They sat in silence for a long moment before she continued. “I mean . . . Riley’s pretty awesome, and Prowl’s kinda growing on me, but . . .”

Barricade chuckled, low and quiet, and it was such a rare sight she didn’t know whether she wanted to kick him or take a picture.

Jodi settled for glaring. “What?”

“As amusing as it is watching you frustrate my brother, I told Prowl last week that the close confinement wouldn’t work for much longer.” The jerk looked downright smug now. “After recounting some of your more interesting escapes from Base he was inclined to agree.”

“And?”

“ _And_ he might have gotten our boundaries extended after a rather lengthy discussion with Prime.”

She kicked at the dashboard with bare feet. “You actually gonna tell me by how much or do I have to take a screwdriver to your shiny new paintjob?”

“Fifty miles,” ‘Cade finally answered. “It’s not far, but it will take as far as the next town. Do you feel like taking a drive later?”

Fifty miles. Well, it was a start anyway. Everyone was still wary about further Decepticon activity, but as the quiet held and their resident delinquents cooperated they were slowly easing up.

Thunder rumbled once more, turning Jodi’s attention to the closed garage door.

“Sounds great.” With a small smile, she resettled herself, arms and ankles crossed. As comfortable as she had become in the Tanaka household, she always felt the most at ease here. “Though I vote we leave when the rain stops. If we’re gonna do a mini road trip I want to be able to properly enjoy it. Plus I’m not going anywhere in my PJs. Wake me later?”

“Of course.”

Barricade let his Holoform disperse, and Jodi basked in the calm and the familiarity.

And as Jodi drifted off she couldn’t help but feel at home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it for Disregarded, and I thank you all for reading.
> 
> My friend Coil (Fulminatas Mortal Coil) has been writing her own story, but she's been working with me to make it Disregarded compliant so we can borrow eachother's characters. It can definitely be read as a stand alone, but takes place a year after Disregarded comes to a close. It's caller "Stranger than Frisson" and hopefully be up soon so I can add it to the 'Verse.
> 
> Jodi and Barricade's adventures don't stop here. The first chapter of "On the Flip Side" will be up in a bit (I got home way later than intended) and it will illuminate more on the Day of Hell as well act as a precursor to further stories. If you don't enjoy crossovers, I would suggest you stop here, and ignore the rest.
> 
> Thank you everyone! I hope to see you soon.


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